"Bloody hell! Why is he here?" Ron shouted at the sight of Draco Malfoy.
Everyone in the room stared awkwardly at Draco as he looked in through the door window waiting to be let in. Hermione neglected to tell anyone about invited Draco to the party so his sudden appearance was unexpected.
*knock knock*
The room remained in silence with a mixture of confusion and anger as Hermione slowly stood up and opened the door.
"Hi, Draco," said Hermione, shyly.
"Erm, hey. Did you not tell anyone I was coming? It feels a bit… tense in here…" said Draco as he looked around the room, all eyes on him.
"Kind of…" Hermione responded.
Turning back to face the room, Hermione opened her mouth to speak but before she could explain Ron made an outburst.
"And just who do you think you are, Malfoy, showing up to this house? No one invited you! No one wants you here! Your own family doesn't want you, what would make you think you're welcome here?"
Hermione, tired of Ron's insulting behavior, shouted back at Ron, "Ronald, enough! I invited him, okay? I just forgot to mention it with all that's been going on…"
Baffled and angry, Ron was at a loss for words. Harry finally broke the tension in the air and asked, "Why? Why would you invite him here Hermione? Of all people, Malfoy? Do you not remember everything he did? He worked for Voldemort, Hermione!"
"That was years ago, Harry! Why should we still hate him that much? Isn't this what we're celebrating? The end of all that? Why can't we let him join us? He has changed, Harry. He has been through so much and I didn't want him to celebrate alone… Especially because he's renting from the Weasleys. It just wouldn't be right. Please understand."
Draco was beginning to feel annoyed and slightly offended, "Just forget it, Granger. I can see I'm not wanted here. I'll just leave."
Just as Hermione was about to plead with Draco, Mrs. Weasley stood from the table and gently said, "Oh, Draco, dear, you can stay. Ronald was in the wrong. You have every right to celebrate as the rest of us do. Please join us for dinner! We've already finished, but there is plenty of food left for you!"
Hermione smiled at the kindness Mrs. Weasley was showing. Everyone knew the anniversary was always a hard one for the Weasley family, so seeing such kindness toward a former Death Eater was unusual. Draco knew it would be impossible to resist, so he sat down to join the rest of the family. The air filled with cheerful voices once more and Draco finally felt welcome. Ron, however, remained in his seat angry as he glared at Hermione and Draco.
As dinner ended and the room was restored to its original form, everyone began heading outside to celebrate with some old fireworks of Fred and George's.
Soon Draco and Hermione were the only two left in the room.
"Listen, um, I just wanted to thank you, Hermione. It really has been fun. I don't think I've eaten this much or laughed this much in years," said Draco, with a soft smile on his face.
Knowing that Draco was enjoying himself made Hermione happy. Smiling, Hermione said to Draco, "Well I'm glad to hear that Draco. Like I said… it just wouldn't have been right to not invite you here. I'm sorry about Ronald's reaction though…"
Suddenly, Hermione felt herself being pulled toward Draco as he brought her in for a hug. They stood there, hugging, both refusing to let the other go despite the awkwardness of the situation. It had been years since either of them had been hugged so caringly and so gently that neither of them wanted it to end. Just as Draco was about to let go of Hermione, he noticed something unusual.
"Hermione… are those… are those bruises on your neck?"
Suddenly remembering the bruises she forgot to cover up, Hermione tries to come up with an excuse for why they're there, "Erm, well, yes. It's not what you think though! Honestly, I'm just clumsy! I slipped on a wet floor and hit my, um, neck on a… on a chair!"
Draco clearly didn't believe Hermione's story. His fists began to curl up into a ball.
"Granger, don't lie to me! I hate being lied to."
Just then, Ron burst into the room with a scowl on his face.
"'Mione! What the hell are you doing in here still? The fireworks are about to start." Ron's face quickly turned red with anger when he saw Draco standing with Hermione. "And what's going on here? Snogging are we? Let's go 'Mione. We'll talk about this at home."
Ron was about to grab Hermione when Draco shouted out, "Wait just a minute, you stupid Weasel. I haven't had my say yet. You see, Hermione, I think there is more that you haven't told me. Lucky for me, I'm not at dense as you seem to think I am. I'll leave, Weasel, but first I have something to give to you."
Hermione felt ashamed for lying to Draco and she wanted to apologize later. Neither she nor Ron saw what was coming next though. Draco stepped closer to Ron and suddenly shoved his fist straight into Ron's face causing Ron to fall backward over a chair. Shocked, Ron wiped the blood away from his mouth. Hermione stares in awe over what just happened when Harry and Ginny suddenly run into the kitchen to see what has happened.
Ginny sees Ron on the floor and gasps. "Oh my gosh! Ron, what happened?"
Harry starts to piece the scene together as he looks from Ron to Draco and back to Ron. Harry opened his mouth to speak when Ron screamed at Hermione and Draco, "Get out! Both of you! I don't ever want to see your faces here again, do you understand? Enjoy your life with that stupid Malfoy, Hermione. We already know you've been whoring around with him! Why not just make it official?"
Tears began to fill Hermione's eyes as Ron's words sunk in. All eyes on her now, she starts to speak, "I… I never… I never did…."
As she continued to search for words, Draco quickly grabbed her arm and led her outside. Everyone stared at the two of them, but Draco didn't care. As soon as they were far enough away from the Burrow, they disapperated.
*pop*
Draco and Hermione land right into Draco's soft bed. It takes them a moment, but they both stand up to adjust their clothes before finally acknowledging each other.
"Draco… I'm sorry…"
"Hermione, you don't have to be sorry. It's obviously not your fault. It's that bastard of a weasel's fault."
Hermione looks at Draco with a slight frown on her face, "No, Draco… I mean I'm sorry that you misunderstood. I appreciate that you tried to help, but it really wasn't needed. It's my own fault. Not Ronald's. I just… I keep doing stupid things. I know he has a short temper. I know he's been going through so much these past six years, yet I keep messing up."
Draco feels his heart crack as he listens to Hermione's excuses. He can hardly believe she would ever confess to something that she wasn't at fault with. Draco never knew about the incident with the troll, however, and this wasn't the first time Hermione would admit to doing something wrong that she didn't do in order to protect others.
Draco stares blankly at the wall until he hears Hermione sigh.
"Well, it looks like I have no place to stay tonight…"
"Don't worry about it, Hermione. You can stay here tonight. If you really want to go back to the weasel I'm sure he'll be begging for you back tomorrow…" said Draco, disgruntled.
There was more they both wanted to say but didn't have the words to say them. For now, Hermione accepted Draco's offer and thanked him. Feeling a little uneasy, Draco ran to the wardrobe and pulled out a few blankets and an extra pillow.
"You can sleep on the couch. It's actually really comfortable… if you need anything, just ask."
Hermione smiled gently and set up her bed. For the rest of the night Draco listened to Hermione's breathing and occasional sobbing until finally she fell asleep. With the room quiet and nothing but his thoughts to entertain him, Draco began to question even more how he truly felt about Hermione Granger. A girl he once called a mudblood is now his friend and he is scared of what might come from it.