Spellbound

Chapter Six

When Hermione walked in the door after work, Ron greeted her with a hug and a kiss. "Are you okay?" He asked. "I got an owl saying you mysteriously vanished from work for almost 3 hours."

"Yeah. I'm good. I was- I was just- Uhm..." She couldn't lie her way out of it this time. "I was with Malfoy."

"Oh. He wanted to talk to you again?"

"Yeah... Something like that." Hermione couldn't hide the regret etched on her face.

"What's the matter? What happened?" Ron scrunched his eyebrows together, worried.

"You might want to sit down. Please."

Ron sat down on the couch slowly. " 'Mione, what's the matter? Is everything okay?"

"No. Look... I- I lied to you the other day. I wasn't at my parents house. Uhm- Malfoy took me to Paris." Hermine paused, trying to group her thoughts together. "At first, it was just to get away from prying ears. But then nightfall hit, and he wanted to go out and go dancing. And I went along with it because I've been wanting to for so long and we haven't been in years..." She paused again.

"Go on..." Ron didn't like where this was going.

"We danced and drank a little too much wine... And we ended up in bed together." There she had said it. Some of it, at least.

Ron stayed quiet, letting what Hermione had told him sink in.

"Will you please say something?"

"So..." He said, slowly. "You mean to tell me... That you went and had sex with someone; Malfoy, of all people; then lied to me. And then, we went out, had a good time together, came home and had sex with me; you know, your husband? And went and slept with Malfoy. Again."

"Yes... I'm so sorry, Ron. I- I just couldn't keep lying..."

"Are you going to stop seeing him?"

"No..." Hermione whispered.

"Then, get out."

"Ronald..."

"I said get out, Hermione. I mean it." They both had tears rolling down their faces. "Pack a bag and leave. Now."

"What's going on?" said a small voice standing in the entryway to the living room.

"Oh, Rosie. Sweetie." Hermione wiped her face and bent down to the little girls level. "Mummy's going to go away for a little while, okay? But in a few days, I'll come get you and Brother and you can stay with me for a bit. But then you'll have to come back to Daddy."

"Where are you going? Why can't we go?"

"Just on a little vacation. You can come in a few days. I promise."

The little girls face fell a bit. "Okay. Why are you sad?"

"I- I don't want to take a vacation. But I have to. Now, go play. I'll come tell you guys good-bye when I leave."

Rose left the room and Hermione gave one last sad look at Ron before heading to their bedroom to pack. When she was done and had told the children bye, she stood in the living room with her bags.

"Ron, say something. Please?"

"What do I say? Why? What did I do to make you do this?"

"I-" She wanted to tell him, she just couldn't. "I don't know. I just don't."

Ron gave one final nod to Hermione and walked out of the room.

x x x

Within a couple of hours, Hermione had found herself a hotel and gotten a letter to Draco telling him to meet her at a small bakery down the street. She waited patiently at a small table, mindlessly stirring at a cup of coffee that had gotten cold. When he walked in and saw her, he knew something was wrong. He sat down across from her and she moved her cup out of the way.

"He told me to leave." Hermione said before Draco had a chance to talk.

"Did you really expect him to do anything else?"

"No... I just didn't think it would be so hard. Especially having to leave the kids."

Draco nodded. "I'm sorry..." Hermione just nodded. "Where are you staying?" He said, shifting his weight in his chair, clearly uncomfortable in the tiny muggle bakery.

"A hotel down the way. Walk with me?"

They left and walked quietly to the hotel. When they walked into her room, Draco was shocked. He hadn't realized it was a muggle hotel, as well.

"Why are you staying here? Why not somewhere run by... You know... Us?"

"You forget where I come from. I've spent my life, since I was 11, in your world. I want some time in mine. I want to stay in a muggle hotel. I want a telephone and a tv and a computer with Internet." Hermione chuckled, sadly. "You know, you'd think that since Ronald grew up with a father as obsessed with muggles as he was, he'd be more accepting of the things I wanted. But he wasn't." Draco didn't know what to say. "I want both worlds, Draco. But I'm never gonna get that in the same place, am I?"

"You can. You just have to find the right person to accept both. Someone who grew up in a different way than you might find it hard to change their lifestyle that drastically."

"What about you? Would you try?"

Draco grabbed Hermione's hand. "I... Will try my hardest." He leaned in and managed a small kiss on her lips before she turned away.

"Will you stay with me tonight? I want to just sleep, but I don't think I can by myself."

"Of course I'll stay. I'll stay as long as you want me to."

Hermione smiled. "Thank you." She laid down on the bed and patted the spot next to her. "Wanna watch a movie? I won't mind if you asked questions."

Draco took the coveted spot next to Hermione and smiled when she laid her head on his shoulder. "I'll probably ask a lot of questions."

"I know." Hermione turned on the TV and found the movie channels. "Oh, Pride & Prejudice. I love this one. It's fairly new, but it's from a book that was written in the 1800s. It's really good. Probably one of my favorites."

"I'll give it a try." Draco smiled and Hermione kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you."

X X X