Disclaimer: I live with a terrible secret... I am not JK Rowling and I'm just making a non-profit fanfic. -sob-

A/N: I'm in the middle of my exam weeks, and I've been doing hardcore studying for most of November. It sucks how life gets in the way sometimes. Grr. But here it is, finally. And things are calming down, so the next chapters shouldn't be too far away!

Chapter 16 // TheTwist

"If you refuse to leave my house, will you at least start speaking?" Hermione asked haughtily, striking past the two sulking figures who lay in each corner of her couch.

It was 9 AM in the morning, and the two of them were still as quiet as they had been last night. Despite refusing to utter a word, they had not budged from her home, which had been a hassle since Hermione could hardly do the horizontal samba with Draco while her two livid friends were brooding downstairs. He had been forced to leave, when all she wanted to do was cling to him so tightly he could never get away.

She had seriously thought she would have to let him go, thinking he couldn't possibly feel the same. Hearing him say the words had sent her heart into a wild beat mysteriously sounding like She Loves You by The Beatles. The feeling couldn't be described by any words she knew, and that was a very unfamiliar situation. She liked words. And now words were falling short.

As she looked over her shoulder where she stood in the kitchen frying eggs for breakfast she knew some of the euphoria from last night had gone. Yes, it was amazing to feel this way, and it was amazing to have it returned, but Ginny and Harry reminded her of what the reactions would be. She couldn't hide up here for the rest of her life; she was too attached to her job and Wizard London, and besides she would have to see friends and family again at some point.

Honestly; it scared her. Around here it was easy to pretend the past never happened. No one except a selected few knew who Draco really was, and their relationship was as private as it would ever be, considering no one knew he was here at all. Would they survive the attention, and all the people working against them? She found it hard enough fighting against the wrath of Ginny and Harry, let alone the entire wizarding world.

"Breakfast," she announced briskly, putting their eggs on the table in front of them.

She turned her back to them, sitting down by the table facing the window and his house. There were no stalker tendencies left in her at that moment, only a vacant expression as she was lost in thought. Her vision became unfocused, as her mind raced around like a confused snitch. She was not going to give up on her relationship with Draco just because Harry and Ginny couldn't grow up, but she didn't enjoy the silent treatment. They always stood by her, and for them to be so obviously against this was tearing down her resolution to make this work.

A sudden pop broke the eerie silence in the room, and she turned around in haste. Draco stood there in his blue chequered pyjama pants and white t-shirt, his haired looking messed up and he was noticeably unshaven. Her heart was trying to river dance.

"Lola is banging on my door," he groaned, pulling a hand through his hair, making it even less tidy. "The last time I saw her she was begging for a second date. Shit."

Hey; her resolution was back! This was just like magic.

"The answer to her demand shouldn't be too hard to find," she commented dryly before raising her eyebrow. "No."

"Of course I want to say no..."

"Okey, I don't like that statement. It involves an expression of a wish, and it gives me the promise of an upcoming 'but'."

Ginny and Harry had now given up their show of ignoring her and had their full attention glued to them instead.

Draco ran his hand over his eyes, looking rather tired and frustrated at this point.

"Don't you get it?" he exclaimed, his voice carrying an irritated edge. "Ella knows who I am. She knows I'm here, and she's smart enough to know that I'm in hiding. I lied about my name, so of course she knows I don't want to be recognised."

"So you've given the woman ammunition to blackmail you. Just brilliant, troll brain!" she cried, images of the last date between Lola and Draco flashing through her mind like a horrible holiday slideshow from her all too open minded aunt that she just couldn't stop.

"I haven't given her anything. I haven't given her the slightest hint about who I am. You know damn well that she figured it out all on her own."

He threw his hands up when she just clenched her jaw in annoyance at this.

"Look, please tell me you have a better suggestion. Cause if you do I'll take it right now, no questions."

She moved her gaze to meet his and found him looking worried and torn. He wasn't enjoying this either, apparently, but that didn't make it much better.

"I don't," she admitted, crossing her arms over her chest as she rose from her seat. "I don't have any other suggestion as to how we can satisfy her ego."

His shoulders fell slightly, and she braced herself for what she was about to say.

"Draco... would it really be so bad if she spilled?" she asked hesitantly, taking a few steps closer. "The worst thing that can happen is that people find out you're here."

She grimaced when he seemed to flinch at her words.

"We've been through this before," he told her quietly, not looking at any of them.

"I know."

"I'm not ready for that. I'm not ready for waking up to a horde of reporters outside my home every day. And I'm definitely not ready for the questions of why I've been gone so long."

"Draco, why do you keep acting like you're guilty of anything in this war?" she inquired intensely, trying to catch his glance. "You were on our side, and you did no less than any of us. If anything you did more than most!"

"They just see my name, Hermione. I'm branded. I'm a Malfoy, and for that everyone thinks they know who I am and what I stand for," he said, sighing heavily as he rubbed his temple. "I'm tired of being judged. All I want is to live my life away from those who sees me as nothing but a Malfoy."

"And dating Lola is going to help that how?" she asked dryly. "The only reason – or at least the main reason – they want her paired with you is your name and your heritage."

"Merlin, I know," he said in despair. "I don't know what to do."

She cast a glance over at her friends who now appeared almost hypnotized by the scene. Neither of them blinked for a second as they watched the banter. Giving them a stern look, she picked her wand out from the waistline of her pyjamas and cast a soundproof bubble around the two of them.

"Draco, I'm going to be completely honest with you," she said in a hushed voice, holding his gaze. "I love you. And you have no idea how I feel about you feeling the same. But our relationship has barely started. You and I are not strong enough to be put to this test."

"I know it seems insane, that I would go on a date with another woman now of all times. But I swear to you, on everything I am, that it's just to throw her off. It's to make her believe she has the upper hand and to keep her mollified."

"And in two weeks time, then what? Do you think she'll be happy with one measly date? You and I can't show our faces in town, or they'll know in an instant. Do you know what you're throwing us into?"

"I can't even believe I'm thinking the thought of putting you through this. I'm the worst boyfriend in the entire magical world," he swallowed and put his hand gently against her cheek, touching her for the first time since he arrived.

"You're not," she objected, smiling slightly. "You asked before going on the date, and you haven't slept with her behind my back."

Before he could retort back she removed the protective bubble and was surprised to find both Harry and Ginny on their feet. Draco's hand fell to his side when she turned against them, her brows furrowed in confusion.

"You should go on the date, Malfoy," Harry stated firmly, ignoring the piercing look from his clearly irritated girlfriend.

"He's with Hermione; he shouldn't go on any damn date with anyone!"

"That crazy person is going to rat him out if he doesn't play by their rules," Harry protested.

"So what if she does? He can't hide out here forever!"

"Can't you see the man needs time, Gin?"

Hermione's eyebrows were almost hidden in her curls by now. Harry Potter was siding with Draco Malfoy. She was pretty much speechless.

"Remember after the war when I didn't even want to leave the house? The only ones I wanted to see were you, Hermione and Ron. You were baking obsessively for months, finding excuses not to return to work."

Ginny nodded reluctantly, and Hermione shuddered at the thought of all the pies she ate during those months.

"But we all had people to help us through it, and he didn't. Can't you see he's not ready to face the questions yet?"

"Harry Potter... when did you turn so perceptive?" his girlfriend asked slightly disbelieving.

"It comes forth when I need it," he smiled, looking pleased with himself.

"You should need it more often," she told him dryly, making him grin even wider.

"I don't even know if this is such a good idea anymore," Draco shot in, looking distressed.

"Like it's already been pointed out, I don't think there's much of an alternative," Hermione retorted. "You either play by their rules or they'll go to the Prophet; I'm sure of it. I certainly don't like the idea, and I stand by everything I said previously, but I have no other ideas."

"I suppose there are no other ways to do this," Ginny agreed, finally losing some of her hostile edge. "And it's not even that bad if you think about it. It'll be just like going out with a friend, and it's like the spy-duties you had to perform at first in the war. It's just pretend."

They all looked at each other, neither of them quite understanding what they had all agreed on. It was absurd. And they had all agreed, even when none of them even liked the idea much in the first place, Hermione perhaps least of all.

"You should arrange it as quickly as you can," Hermione then said, breaking the suffocating silence. "Take her to the restaurant."

"I refuse to take her to the restaurant," he muttered, his cheeks colouring.

"If you're going to go through with this you can't be cheap. You have to look as if you mean it," Harry noted.

"I took Hermione there for our first date. I don't want to take her there."

Hermione's expression softened and she felt an overwhelming urge to aw at this, but repressed it as well as she could.

"Aw!"

It appeared Ginny hadn't quite managed to fight her urge.

"Shut up," Draco growled in embarrassment, looking down at the floor.

Ginny snickered quickly. "But to get back to the serious business; if you take her to the restaurant, Hermione, Harry and I can get a table close by and keep an eye on her without raising much suspicion."

"It's okay," Hermione assured him. "Really."

His gaze lingered on her for several moments, before he gave a defeated sigh.

"Alright, I'll go make the arrangements straight away. And...Get dressed."

Hermione chuckled quietly, taking notice of the fact that they were both in their pyjamas still. He stepped closer to her and tangled both his hands in her unruly hair. She tilted her head upwards, looking at him as he seemed to drink her in. His lips claimed hers for a feather light kiss, before he stepped back again and disapparated on the spot.

"Have you heard anything?" Ginny asked from her seat by the fireplace, looking up as Hermione came down the stairs.

"Not yet, but I suppose he'll stop by later to let us know how it's working out," she answered, coming to the bottom to find Ginny alone in the living room. "Where's Harry?"

"Went for a walk. He looked out the window and almost fainted in glee over how charming it all was. He's such a girl."

"It really is beautiful, though," Hermione told her, sitting down in the far corner of the couch before stretching her feet out on it.

"I'll wait till you can take me on a tour," Ginny sad with a crooked smile, turning another page in the prophet.

They both remained silent for a while, Hermione lost in thought and Ginny preoccupied with an article about a new herb with medical qualities. It was oddly nice having them in her house again, even if they weren't all too pleased with the situation. She had almost forgotten how much she missed them.

"So..." Ginny began, "in love with ferretboy, huh?"

"Yep."

"Infatuated with the Prince of Slytherin?"

"Indeed."

"On your knees for insufferable snake boy?"

"You guessed it."

"Can't live without the thin, pointy, pasty face?"

"Nope."

"Willing to risk your reputation for Malfoy Junior?"

Instead of answering she turned towards Ginny with a crestfallen look.

"I am. I'd do almost anything. But I would lie if I said I don't fear the reactions."

"What about the situation with him hiding? Are you comfortable with that?"

"If anything is going to break us, I think that's going to be it. When I'm ready, I'm going back to London. I have to. My job is there, my friends, my family. I have to go back, and if he doesn't want to I don't know what I'll do," she admitted. "But I have to try this, Gin."

"So you have no immediate plans on calling this off?"

"I don't know if I'll ever want to," Hermione told her truthfully, meeting her gaze across the space between them.

Ginny gave a heavy sigh.

"I guess I don't have much choice on the matter. If the alternative is to never speak to you, I think I prefer giving him a chance."

Hermione's smile widened at this, and a sudden relief filled her. Was Ginny actually going to take her side on this?

"At least it'll piss Ron off," Ginny added gleefully, folding the Prophet neatly. "Let's make dinner, I'm starved."

Hermione laughed and shook her head before following the redhead out into the kitchen. Ginny was already making the pots and pans do her bidding, so Hermione cast an illusion charm on the window to prevent unsuspecting muggles seeing carrots chopping themselves before leaping suicidally into the pot.

"How's the family?" Hermione asked as she found a spot next to Ginny.

Ginny smiled warmly, sending her a sideways glance.

"Dad is still working way too much; Mum is being normal and never stops fussing about all our lives; Charlie I haven't seen since the last time you met him; Bill is still not himself since Fleur left; and Fred and George are as busy as ever."

"I wish Bill would stop beating himself up over that," Hermione sighed, leaning across the table to find a knife.

"I know. Their relationship was pretty dysfunctional from the start, and we all knew it would end that way."

"I think Ron and I were the same. No, listen. I think that – more than anything – Ron and I wanted to be in love, to be in a relationship. It had been in the cards for so long and it felt so safe. In many ways I think I held on to the strong desire of making it work, overlooking the fact that we weren't compatible."

"You did love each other, though," Ginny shot in.

"We did," Hermione agreed. "But I'm starting to realise how fragile it was. I don't think we loved each other enough to work through everything else. In the end we drifted apart. And I did my share of drifting too."

Ginny just nodded thoughtfully, keeping her eyes on the work she was doing

"I'm starting to realise how much I miss you all," Hermione admitted, thinking back to the last day she spent at the Burrow. It had been months ago, back when she was still the daughter in law. Where did she stand now?

"Oddly enough, Fred and George seems to be the ones who are most torn up about you being gone. We all miss you, but Fred and George have been especially prissy with Ron ever since we all learned what happened."

"The twins and I aren't as different as people seem to think," Hermione chuckled.

"You have grown suspiciously close, I will admit that."

Hermione laughed, and was about to retort when the front door swung open and loud chatter cut their conversation off.

"Hermione, you didn't tell me Harry was coming for a visit!" Miranda exclaimed accusingly.

She was pushing Harry good naturedly before her into the kitchen, beaming even more than usual.

"Ah, you've met," Hermione grinned. "It was a rather spontaneous visit, so I didn't even know until last night after they arrived."

"It's okay, dear," Miranda assured her, and turned around to find that Harry had taken a seat by the table.

Harry was now shorter than her, so she took advantage of the situation and began petting his stubborn hair down. Hermione watched in amusement as the motherly woman fussed over Harry.

"And that must be your girlfriend," Miranda exclaimed after having noticed Ginny.

"Ginny Weasley," she nodded, reaching her hand out with a smile.

"Miranda Alm. Such a pleasure to meet you both! Now I know Hermione wasn't delusional."

"Delusional?" Hermione asked, sniffing in disapproval.

"Well, you did claim your best friend was Harry Potter. Most people usually lie when they say that, how was I supposed to know you were actually telling the truth?"

Miranda laughed her warm, loud laugh, putting her hand comfortingly on Hermione's shoulder.

"Miranda is my neighbour," Hermione explained, smiling involuntarily. "She makes life around here interesting."

"I sure do," Miranda agreed. "Speaking of making life interesting; where is Draco hiding?"

"Oh, he's at his own place. He had to plan a date with Lola," Hermione explained lightly, tidying some of the used equipment together.

"And why in Merlin's name would he want to go on a date with Lola?"

"Ella knows who he is, and we're afraid she'll rat him out if we don't try to keep her happy."

Miranda sighed at that, looking out the window for a quick second.

"It pains me to admit you might be right. She has changed a lot since we first became friends. I hardly know her anymore," she admitted sadly, meeting Hermione's concerned gaze.

"I know how that feels," Harry muttered next to her, causing Miranda to turn in surprise.

When she found Harry gazing absently out the window, she gave his hair an affectionate stroke.

"Everyone changes, and sometimes for the worse. It's sad, but it's life."

"And sometimes for the better," Hermione commented quietly when she saw Draco materialise in the middle of her living room.

Miranda turned and followed her gaze and broke into a smile.

"There you are. "

He smiled tiredly at her as he approached, putting his hand loosely around her shoulders.

"Have the gnomes been giving you any more trouble?"

"Oh no, they've been keeping away for now at least. Thank you for degnoming the garden for me, my back really isn't what it used to be."

"You know it's a pleasure," he smiled. "It smells great in here, I'm starved."

"Who says you're invited?" Ginny asked with an eyebrow raised.

Draco looked uncertain for a moment, but when Ginny couldn't keep her angry mask anymore and her lips broke into a smile, he relaxed visibly.

"Oh dear, you are a sly one aren't you," Miranda laughed. "Gave him quite a scare."

"I have 6 brothers. It's a survival technique," Ginny laughed.

"Would you like to stay for dinner, Miranda?" Hermione chipped in.

"Oh, I would love to, but I have something cooking already."

Miranda said her goodbyes and left the four of them in the small kitchen. Hermione started setting the table, while Harry didn't quite like how tiny it was and thus how intimate the setting was bound to be. Her table just enough for two, and would most likely be quite intimate for four. Harry stood with his wand in hand, rubbing his temple with his other one, looking rather stumped. Hermione bustled around him putting plates and cutlery in place, while Ginny and Draco were making the food ready to serve.

"I can't remember the spell," Harry complained in annoyance, waving his wand with a distinct mutter, only causing the table to give a slight rattle.

Hermione gave him an annoyed glance when one of the glasses fell over. She grabbed the wand from his outstretched hand and pointed it firmly at the table.

"I really don't get how you remember every little spell," Harry said, shaking his head. "Now, give it back. That thing killed Voldemort you know."

"Oh in that case, I think I'll keep it," she grinned, giving it an affectionate pet.

"Not very likely!"

She squeaked when he came charging at her and enclosed his hands around her waist. Moments later she had been lifted off the ground and he was now carrying her around the waist in a death grip.

"Harry, let me go!" she shrieked in between guffaws of laughter.

"Oh, I don't know. I think I like having the power over you...for once."

When he loosened his hold just enough to tickle her, she wriggled desperately as she was attacked by fits of giggles.

"Oh God!" she called, all out of breath. "I'll be nice."

"Promise?"

"Oh, will you kids give it a rest?" Ginny laughed. "I know it's been long, but you have more than enough time to drive each other nuts soon enough."

Harry laughed and put her down, but didn't loosen his hold until he had given her a hug from behind, making her beam happily. It really had been too long since she had spent any time with them.

"Now, sit," Ginny commanded, pulling up a chair of her own at the magically lengthened table.

They all found a place, Hermione finding herself seated between Harry and Draco. It wasn't an unpleasant experience...rather on the contrary, in fact. She turned towards the blond beside her, finding his face in serious folds.

"Are you alright?" she asked tentatively as she reached for a plate.

He looked up slowly, nodding his head a fraction of an inch.

"I'm good," he said softly. "I just arranged a date with another girl for tomorrow night, when my current girlfriend just got out of a relationship where her ex cheated on her. I'm just marvellous."

He bit cheerlessly into his food, meeting none of their eyes.

"We all agreed this is for the best," Hermione said carefully. "I agreed to this too. And I know you're not doing this cause you want to. If you wanted her you would have picked her from the start."

"What if you're stalkerish tendencies scared me into dating you?" he asked jokingly, some of the boyish quality back in his eyes.

"Stalkerish?" Ginny enquired with a raised eyebrow.

"It's nothing," Hermione quickly assured them.

Draco just smiled, shaking his head as Ginny remained unconvinced.

"Well, all I know is anyone brave enough to date Hermione should get a medal," Harry proclaimed, ducking just in time to escape the fork that zoomed right above his head and got stuck to the wall.

A/N II: I'm very uncertain of what I think of this chapter. I really want to give you good chapters for the end of this and keep people happy with it, but I fear this might have been teh suck. :( But there's still more to come anyway.

And lots of thanks to the reviewers from the last chapter. You make my day. Seriously. I physically squeal when I open my email and see the review alerts.

(just editing a mistake.)