Chapter 15

Draco's friends blended with Hermione's well and soon everyone was having a good time as they ate, drank and chatted. There was a knock on the door and Hermione and Draco both got up to get it, they opened the door to see an angry looking Harry potter clutching the Daily Prophet and an upset Ginny Weasley Potter. This was not how they had planned this evening to end.

Hermione glanced at the newspaper in Harry's hand and then at his angry face; she knew he had read the article. She took a step towards him and said," Harry, I can explain."

Harry screamed," What are you going to explain huh? How you broke our best friends heart, how you are here enjoying yourself with your new boyfriend while Ron is lying in his apartment totally heartbroken. We are coming from his apartment, we found him drunk with only your name on his lips. He loved you so much, how could you do this to him? How could you do this to us?"

Ginny kept a reassuring hand on Harry's forearm and looked at Hermione with teary eyes," Let her explain, maybe…."

She was cut off by her furious husband," Are you insane Gin, didn't you see Ron's condition?" That cut Ginny off and she looked anywhere except at Hermione.

Everyone in the room had gone mute at the arrival of Harry and Ginny; they didn't know what to say to the furious man so everyone except Luna and Blaise apparated away. Draco moved to Hermione's side and placed a hand on her shoulder to show his support. Hermione looked at him with tears in her eyes and she looked so vulnerable and hurt that Draco knew she wouldn't defend herself to her best friends.

Harry saw the display and shouted," Atleast have the decency not to throw your new affair at our faces, you can carry on when we leave. I feel like I don't even know you; you make me sick."

Hermione burst into tears on listening to her best friend's accusations and that snapped Draco's patience, he moved in between harry and Hermione and said," Don't talk to Hermione like that, you'll regret it later. Did you even give her a chance to explain? Do you know what that Weasley did to her? He cheated on her and not once; he had been cheating on her since months, maybe years. You think he's hurt; he had hurt Hermione so much that she jumped from a cliff to kill herself. I pity you Potter; you couldn't even understand the one person who loved you like her family."

He turned and ushered a sobbing Hermione to the couch where Luna and Draco tried to make her stop crying. The newlyweds stood there in shock, trying to digest the new information they had just been given. Ginny was the first one to snap from her trance and she ran up to Hermione, trying to apologize," Hermione we are so sorry, we should have listened to you. It's just that we were on our honeymoon and we saw that awful article in the daily prophet. We came back immediately and went directly to Ron's apartment, you weren't there and we found Ron totally drunk and he just kept mumbling your name. We thought that the article must be true and that had reduced Ron to that stage. We went to your boss and asked him for your new address, and here we saw you with Malfoy so we assumed that all of it was true. We are so sorry for hurting you, please forgive us.

Hermione leapt in Ginny's arms and both friends cried while the other three had their eyes on Harry. He hadn't moved a muscle and stood there looking at his wife and the girl he had loved like a sister. He couldn't ask for Hermione's forgiveness because he didn't think he could even forgive himself for the hurtful things he had said. He had been ruthless with his words and wished he could take them back. He couldn't bear to see her cry because of him so he walked out of the door and then apparated away with a pop.

The sound of apparition brought the two women back to earth and they both looked towards the open door to find Harry gone. Ginny sighed," He loves you, never doubt that; he's just upset with himself for accusing you. Believe me Hermione; the condition we saw Ron in made us irrational. Now that I know the truth, Ron is going to get his balls hexed away."

Hermione gave her a weak smile while still looking at the place where Harry had been standing. Ginny sighed," You'll forgive him, right? He won't be able to bear it if you don't."

Hermione turned to look at ginny and said," He is like my brother Gin; I love him more than anyone in the world. I will not pretend that his words didn't hurt me, because they did; but I will forgive him because he will always remain an important part of my life. Please tell him that."

Ginny nodded then hugged Hermione and whispered in her ear," Don't think that I am going to let you pass for trying to kill yourself. We are going to talk about it tomorrow."

Hermione pulled away and gulped, Ginny Weasley had a horrible temper that she had inherited from her mother, Molly Weasley and no one wanted to be on the receiving end of such fury. She said," I am going to the BURROW tomorrow, meet me there."

Ginny nodded then turned towards Luna and Blaise, who sat on the couch watching them, and said," I am very sorry for what happened today. Luna we'll catch up tomorrow evening after we visit the Burrow. Then she turned towards Draco and said," Thank you so much for helping Hermione, I'll always be in your debt Malfoy.

The three girlfriends hugged each other, promised to meet the day after and then Ginny apparated away leaving the four people in silence.

Blaise coughed to break the silence then said," Well that was quite an evening, now I think we should leave."

Luna got his hint that Hermione needed some time alone and said," Yes, we should leave now. I'll see you tomorrow Hermione."

After Blaise and Luna left, Hermione stayed quiet for a while and Draco kept staring at her. Draco didn't know what else to say so he asked," Do you wanna talk about it?"

Hermione replied with a plain "No" and kept staring in space. After a few minutes Draco went to his room, brought out some CDs and moved to the kitchen to prepare popcorns. Hermione followed his movements to see what he was up to. He called from the kitchen," Get in your pajamas Granger, we are watching a movie."

Hermione didn't have the strength to argue with him so she went to her bedroom and got into her sleep attire, a pair of green silk shorts with a white tank top. She went back and sat on the couch and asked," Do you need help?"

Draco replied," No, just keep sitting there."

Hermione mumbled,"Good" and went back to her brooding self.

Draco came back with a big bowl of popcorn and a box of chocolate ice cream that he handed over to Hermione, who dug in immediately. He played one of her favorite movies "She's the Man" and settled on the couch beside her.

As the movie started Hermione kept her eyes towards the screen, never looking at Draco but Draco kept glancing at her every now and then and he noticed that she started to loosen up as the movie proceeded. They laughed together and didn't even realize that they had moved closer and now Hermione lay on Draco's chest. Draco transfigured a blanket over them as Hermione had Goosebumps on her arm and legs. They had been tired and they fell asleep before the movie ended. Anyone who had seen them in this condition would have thought that they were lovers. Hermione's naked legs were entangled with Draco's, she was snuggled on his chest and he had his arms wrapped around her. Both looked content and that night Draco didn't have any nightmares.

The morning arrived with sunlight filling the room and sounds of birds chirping; Hermione being an early riser woke first. During the night somehow Draco had moved on top of Hermione and so when she woke the only thing she could see was platinum blonde hair. Draco was snuggled in the corner of her neck and his breath was sending tinkles down her body. She couldn't move as part of Draco's body weight was on her and his arm was draped around her.

Hermione couldn't breathe because of the closeness and she didn't know what else to do so she whispered," Draco…Draco…"

In response Draco just cuddled her more, the warmth radiating off him was making Hermione's mind foggy. She tried again," Draco get up..."

Draco was in a dream state and didn't seem to hear Hermione, he started mumbling something and suddenly kissed her neck; that sent a jolt down her body and she shouted," Draco!"

That woke Draco with a start and he realized that he was on top of Hermione, he tried to stand up but his feet got entangled in the blanket and he fell right on top of her again. The moment turned more embarrassing as his face landed directly on her chest; he raised his eyes to meet Hermione's mortified ones. He quickly disentangled his legs and got off the couch; by that time Hermione's face was beet red, they looked everywhere except at each other.

Hermione said," Maybe mmmm I should…umm…go…change."

Draco mumbled," Yeah,…umm…I should ….umm go."

Both ran to their respective bedrooms, closed their doors, leaned on it and breathed a sigh of relief. Both were out of breath and were red in the face after what had just happened.

Hermione mumbled to herself," Why did he have to fall right at my bosom; this is so embarrassing."

Draco whispered," Shit! I fell right on her chest; how am I going to face her again."

Both got in their respective showers thinking about what had just happened. Hermione had one thought in her mind that disturbed her to no end; she had liked to wake up in Draco's arms, she liked that he was the first thing he saw after waking up. When he had kissed her neck, she had felt something that had heightened all her senses and made her want more. This deal had become somewhat real for her; Luna had been right, she needed to talk to her.

Draco was having trouble not to think about his face so near Hermione's bosom; they had been so soft. He shook his head to clear the disturbing thought. He had been happy looking at Hermione's face right below his before he had realized what he had been doing. She was haunting his dreams as well as his every waking thought. He loved it when she smiled, hated to see her cry, every time she touched him, he yearned for more. She was like a drug to him and he was surely addicted. This deal gave him a chance to hold and kiss her, which was a dream come true but he was concerned that he was getting too attached. He needed to talk to Blaise about it.

Both came out of their room fresh from their showers and prepared breakfast in silence. There was an awkwardness that both couldn't seem to break. They sat on the dining table quietly eating their breakfast, after a while both couldn't take the uncomfortable silence and spoke in unison," About this morning.."

They looked at each other's face and then burst out in laughter. Hermione said," Thank god, we are speaking again; I couldn't take one more minute of silence. Nothing happened anyway."

Draco chuckled," Yeah, nothing happened except I fell on your chest."

Hermione blushed," Well that was awkward. You kissed my neck too."

Draco sighed," Did I really do that; I must have been dreaming. I normally kiss and snuggle girls in my dreams. It became too realistic today, with you wrapped around me."

Hermione replied," From what I recall, you were the one who was wrapped around me. Who was the girl you were snuggling in your dreams." She didn't like the thought of Draco dreaming about another girl; she suddenly felt possessive, like he belonged to her.

Draco coughed in discomfort and said," Just a girl I remembered from school; she was sweet, charming, witty, intelligent and very attractive."

Hermione suddenly felt jealous of the unknown girl; the mystery girl sounded perfect for Draco, maybe she didn't have a shot with him after all; he already had someone on his mind. She kept her voice steady and said," Well you can ask this mystery girl out after our little act is over. Today we can go out on a Public outing if you are free; I have already asked my boss's permission to work from home."

Draco could see the change in Hermione's demeanor but didn't comment on it, instead he said," I am the boss, so I can take a day off whenever I want. So where are we going?"

Hermione mused,"I was thinking that we could go to 'The Hayatt' in the west lane of Diagon alley."

Draco was surprised at her choice as the restaurant was a very luxurious place where only the rich of rich dined and that also required an early reservation, and asked," Have you made reservations because at this hour we won't be able to get it."

Hermione smirked and said," Watch me." She went to the fireplace and kneeled so as to keep her face in it and threw a handful of floo powder and shouted " The Hayatt".

A balding man leapt out of his chair and kneeled by the fireplace and said," It's a pleasure to see you Miss Granger; what brings you here?"

Hermione smiled sweetly," I didn't want to bother you but I needed a table for two by 1 pm today. I know it is extremely difficult to get a reservation at this hour but if you could do me this favor."

The man knew that he was talking to the most famous witch of the century and he couldn't deny her anything so he just smiled," Anything for you, Miss Granger. Shall I book the table under your name?"

Hermione smirked," No, make the reservations under the name of Draco Malfoy."

The man nodded with his eyes light with enthusiasm and said," I'll see you at 1 then."

The floo connection ended and Hermione turned to look at a gaping Draco. He said," That was the most slytherin thing I have ever seen you do. I didn't think you had it in you to pull off something like that."

Hermione giggled," That was the owner of Hayatt; he adores me. Whenever I dined there, mysteriously all the media would pop there. He loves the publicity and you and me out in the public would be big news so he won't miss a chance like that. When we walk down to the restaurant today, the paparazzi will be there to capture it. We are going to be the front news tomorrow and Ron is going to see that not only have I forgotten him but I am also blissfully happy to be where I belong."

Draco scrutinized Hermione's face then asked," So are you really over him or this is still an act. Tell me Hermione are you really happy, is this the place where you belong?"

Hermione looked in Draco's eyes which held a question of its own and her answer was right there, in his eyes; she was happy living with him. Everyday brought something new and unexpected, everyday was an adventure. With Ron everything had been a routine but with Draco it was different and exciting. She didn't know what was exactly going on between them, but there was surely something and she was going to figure out what it was.

She moved closer to Draco who was still staring and smiled," I really am happy Draco, I am exactly where I belong; I belong right here with you." Then she closed the remaining distance between them and kissed him softly; and this kiss was definitely not part of their act.

A/n: Loved the reviews, keep them coming. Tell me if I am moving the romance way too fast. Narcissa is going to star in the next chapter so everyone who missed her…CHEERS. Harry will come around eventually, he hadn't known the full story so he was bound to react like that so don't hate him. Weasleys are also coming soon so don't worry.

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