Chapter 3

Hermione apparated to the only place she could think of; so here she stood in front of a club in diagon alley with a sparkling board reading, "luna's loony nargles". She had nowhere else to go, Ron was at their apartment, harry and ginny were on their honeymoon, the burrow was not an option as, even though the weasleys loved her, they still were Ron's family.

Apart from harry and ginny, Luna was her closest friend. She had grown out of her weird beliefs and was now the owner of the most happening wizarding club that she named after the nickname that she had been given at Hogwarts. When asked why she gave her club such an odd name, luna serenely answered," I have changed for good, but I still want to remember my old self". No one understood her logic, but it was Luna so everybody let it pass.

Hermione entered the club and looked around; the posh club was decorated with lots of lights and was filled with people dressed for partying. She made a bee line to the manager who knew Hermione to be his boss's special guest.

The manager asked," what can I do for you miss granger?" he decided not to comment on her swollen red eyes.

Hermione barely croaked," I need to see Luna"

The manager answered," Miss Lovegood is currently unavailable mam. She will join you in 20 minutes. Would you like to wait at the bar?"

Without replying, Hermione walked towards the bar and sat on a vacant chair. She decided she needed a drink or her heart would explode. She had reined her tears but she couldn't control the pain. She motioned to the bartender and ordered whiskey. Hermione didn't drink as she was not good at handling alcohol but today she needed something to dull the pain. Her head kept replaying Ron's words" you didn't want sex, did you ever think what I wanted"…. "What would you gain by staying a precious virgin? Going to get perfect grades from teachers?... Trying to be bloody pure to show the world?... You are so selfish…. you are the reason why I cheated".

Her heart ached more and more with each thought and she drank. In the 20 minutes Luna took to arrive, Hermione had drunk seven glasses of whiskey and was now fully pissed. Her vision blurred and had she not been sitting on a chair with her head on the counter she would have fallen. The bartender and the manager were giving Hermione troubled looks and were waiting for their boss to arrive.

The door of the bar opened and in came a tired looking Luna lovegood. She wore leather pants and a strapless top. The manager rushed towards her and informed her of Hermione's presence. Luna knew something was wrong as Hermione never came unannounced. She turned to her manager and asked," where is she?"

The manager led Luna towards the bar where she was shocked to see an extremely drunk Hermione gulping her eighth drink. Luna rushed towards Hermione and asked," what is going on Hermione? What happened to you?"

Hermione couldn't see Luna's face properly but could hear the concern in her voice. Hermione's resolve crumbled and with a wail she hugged Luna and sobbed. Now Luna was very scared; 'what had happened to reduce Hermione to such a state' she thought. She shushed Hermione and said" what happened please tell me? I am right here with you; please Hermione you are scaring me"

Hermione had totally lost her senses but still she said in a broken voice which was no more than a sob," I found Ron cheating; he was having sex with someone when I reached home. He had been having sex with the girl since 5 months." "5 MONTHS!" she wailed.

Luna was dumbstruck.' How could Ron do this to Hermione; she loved him, even a blind man could see that'. Her musing was stopped when Hermione said," and he screamed at me that I was the reason he cheated, that I was selfish, that I was…" she couldn't continue as she started crying uncontrollably.

Luna fumed," only an ass like Ron can say that Hermione. We all have seen how much you cared for him. You are not selfish; in fact he is the selfish one. He doesn't deserve your love". This did nothing in consoling Hermione whose brilliant mind had shut its doors and she started mumbling," maybe I don't deserve happiness. I had dreamed of a happy life with Ron. I had so many hopes for our future which will never be fulfilled now. Everyone leaves me; first my parents now Ron. I haven't imagined a life without him. I can't see where my life is going. My dreams have been broken and my hopes are crushed. I don't have a future."

With that she stumbled but somehow stood from her seat, taking support from the counter and backed away from a very worried Luna and said," I can't Luna, I can't live without him, he was my life. Now I have no life, no present, and no future. Tell harry and ginny that I loved them. But now my life is not worth living."

Before Luna could reach Hermione and knock some sense in her, Hermione apparated from the club. Luna looked at the spot where Hermione had been a moment ago and screamed "NOOOOO". She quickly thought about what to do; she was getting frantic thinking of what Hermione might do.' Who can help me' she thought and the answer popped right in her head. She whispered, "Blaise" and apparated to the bar where her boyfriend Blaise was meeting his recently returned best friend Draco Malfoy.

Blaise Zabini looked across the table at his best friend since childhood and thought' he has changed'. It had been 3 years since the war ended; it had been 3 years since he had last seen his best friend Draco. Draco and his mother had switched sides during the war by turning spies. Unfortunately lucius Malfoy had been too deep in voldemort's beliefs to see the wrongs of his ways. In the final battle lucius had been killed by his own son though Draco never talked about it. After the war Draco and his mother left England and went to France where Draco's grandmother lived. He had regularly written to Blaise, his only true friend, telling him about his new life and how he missed England. Finally after 3 years both Draco and Narcissa decided to come back home, for which Blaise was glad; he had missed his best friend.

Blaise noted the changes in Draco, his signature scowl had been replaced with a warm smile; his faced seemed to have relaxed. Draco stood tall at a height of 6 feet; he had acquired a well built muscular body and now had a light tan. His grey eyes seemed clear and happy and he was attracting a lot of female attention.

Blaise himself was quite popular among females, with a tall strong built he was more muscular than Draco. His tanned Italian skin and charm could make a girl weak in her knees. But the once acclaimed playboy was now head over heels in love with his girlfriend Luna lovegood.

Blaise had gone to Luna's club's opening party where his attention had been caught by a petite blonde who had been wearing a green knee length off shoulder dress. The girl had looked simple but extremely elegant and attractive. Blaise had put on his charm and tried flirting with the blonde who seemed immune to his tactics. She had given him a funny look and had said," you seriously can't think I'll fall for that" and had walked past a gaping Blaise Zabini.

He had gone to the club every day since then; the whole time staring at Luna to figure out what had seemed to grab his attention. Looking at her everyday had made him even more adamant at claiming her. She had been different from all the girls that threw themselves at him; she was sweet, graceful, a simple sort of beauty.

On his fifth day in her club, she had been studiously ignoring him like always and he had been staring at her like every day when a drunk man had grabbed her and had tried to feel her up. Blaise had felt a rage like never before and had pulled her out of the man's filthy hands and then proceeded to beat the living shit out of the man in the muggle way. He had stopped only when he had broken the man's nose, a rib and an arm and Luna had pleaded with him to stop.

They had been together ever since. Luna had become his little sunshine and he was very protective of her. He also never needed to put on his charms for any other girl; his angel was all he wanted.

" so you are finally serious about a girl; who would have thought I'd see this day" Draco teased continuing their conversation

Blaise smiled and said," yes she is very special."

Draco noticed the silly smile on his friend's face and knew that Luna must be very special for Blaise. In fact he thought Blaise might have found THE ONE. Smiling he said," I am happy for you man. You deserve her"

This made Blaise chuckle, " of course I deserve her, I am handsome, charming, sexy, witty, and HOT".

Draco laughed at his friend's vain comment but before he could reply he heard a pop of apparition and saw the smile on his friends face drop.

Draco turned to see a crying Luna lovegood walk towards their table. In no time Blaise had pulled her in his arms and was frantically asking," Are you hurt, why are you crying, what happened to you?"

Even Draco was concerned at the look of pure agony on Luna's face. Finally Luna controlled herself a bit and started rambling," you need to help me find Hermione, she was drunk, I should have taken better care of her, Ron cheated, sh..she said that her life was not worth living, and she just left,..i ..i think Blaise Hermione is committing suicide." With that she hugged Blaise tightly and started crying. Blaise tried calming his worried girlfriend. None of them noticed that Draco had gone still on listening this.

He whispered to himself, "She can't die".

A/n: thanks to all the people reading my story. i know it wasn't much but Draco has finally entered the story.

I love writing this story so please review and tell me what you think and how you want the story to proceed. Also, do you think I need a beta? Is the length of the chapters' fine? I am very dedicated; its 1:30 am in my country

The more the reviews the faster I'll update… listening from you makes me very happy

Special thanks to crunchymunchers and pinkcrazyness for their reviews and support.