Wow, another chapter already? Two chapters in the same month?! Yes, it's true! Anywho, if you guys were left feeling angry after the last chapter... well... I'm sorry. This chapter might make you mad too, but don't let that stop you from reading it! I hope you all enjoy and I'll try to update again soon. -Lily's Fireflies
As the sun was rising, Hermione decided it would be best to be somewhat productive until Ginny and Harry woke up. There wasn't much she had to do for her job today so she decided to just send out a few owls to her clients. After the last letter was written and sent she realized just how messy the Potter's house had become. Sighing, Hermione changed into her day clothes, pinned up her hair and pulled out her wand.
"Honestly, Harry, you could try a little harder," Hermione whispered to herself.
Ginny was reaching the end of her pregnancy and had a hard time moving around lately. Harry had promised to do more to keep the house looking nice, but he often got so busy with his Auror work that he forgot about the cleaning. With a few flicks of her wand, Hermione had everything straightened up but there were still some things she liked to clean by hand more than with magic. After the dishes were washed and the tables were dusted, she heard Harry and Ginny moving about.
"Good morning, Hermione," said Harry and Ginny in unison. They had just walked into the kitchen where Hermione was sitting.
"Oh, good morning! I hope you don't mind, I cleaned up a bit," Hermione responded.
Harry and Ginny smiled at Hermione and told her, "You really don't have to clean around here, Hermione, but thank you."
Ginny turned to Harry and gave him a passionate kiss to send him off to work. After he left, Ginny looked to Hermione as if trying to read her soul. Hermione felt slightly uncomfortable, but she knew what was coming. Ginny was going to ask her what happened between her and Draco. Hermione didn't really think there was anything to talk about, and she didn't want to make a big deal out of something that wasn't really severe. She decided that she would try to refocus the attention to a different topic.
Hermione looked back into Ginny's eyes and asked, "So have you read the Daily Prophet lately? It has a fascinating article about – "
"– Oh, Hermione, don't you try to avoid the topic! I know exactly what you're trying to do and it's not going to work!" Ginny said, cutting Hermione off.
Ginny saw right through Hermione. Realizing that there was definitely no getting around the topic, Hermione rolled her eyes and looked down at her hands. Ginny knew she was going to have to prod a bit for more information.
Ginny sat down at the table, careful not to hit her belly and got straight to the point, "Hermione, what happened? I thought you were going to talk to him. I'm guessing that didn't happen since you ended up coming here."
"Gin, there's really nothing to talk about. He just wasn't ready to talk about it. I mean, after the kiss happened, we awkwardly addressed it but I don't think he wanted a more in depth discussion about it just yet," said Hermione.
Ginny shook her head in frustration, "So what? He thinks that not talking about it more will just make the problem go away? That is the most pathetic thing I've ever heard! Did you even try talking to him?"
"Yes, actually I did! I went back to the flat and found it locked. I figured he just wanted to be alone for the night so I didn't bother pursuing it more," answered Hermione with an attitude.
For a moment, Ginny said nothing. She simply couldn't believe what she was hearing. Hermione was supposed to be smarter than this.
Finally she found her words and told Hermione, "You need to go to that Parlour right now and talk with him."
Hermione had no choice. Ginny was like Molly in the sense that when she told someone to do something, they did it with no ifs, ands, or buts. Caving in, Hermione nodded and apparated to Diagon Alley.
This is stupid. Why am I even doing this?, thought Hermione.
She stood outside the Ice Cream Parlour and considered whether or not it was really worth going inside. After a short internal debate, she decided that she had to do it. Draco wasn't at work yet, but she told Audrey that she would just wait at a table.
Draco finally made it to work about 15 minutes late. As he was in the back room putting on his apron, Audrey went out to Hermione and told her that she would manage the Parlour just fine on her own if they needed a little while to discuss anything. Hermione smiled and nodded, and continued to wait.
Hermione looked toward the back door just as Draco walked out. For a split second their eyes met, but the gaze was quickly broken by Draco. This confused Hermione. She knew that he didn't want to talk about it the night before, but she believe that after sleeping on it he would be more open today. Hermione got up from her seat and walked to the counter, waiting for Draco to acknowledge her. The acknowledgement never came. Draco continued to avoid her gaze until finally retreating to the back room again.
A tear dropped from her eyes and she felt her heart cracking. Why is he doing this to me? She wondered. This wasn't the Draco that she had grown so close to. After all this time, their friendship had developed into something wonderful and for Draco to act suddenly as if they had never met hurt Hermione.
Hermione called out for Draco, "Draco Malfoy, you listen to me right now. I don't blame you for not wanting to talk about this. I don't even blame you for wanting space, but do you have any idea what you're doing? We're supposed to be friends. Or so I thought… I don't even know now. You have been one of my best friends for almost a year now. I care about you, so for you to just cut me out of your life is not fair. I'll always be your friend, Draco. Always."
She waited for a response, but feared it would never come. Just as Hermione was about to walk out of the Parlour she heard Draco yell from the back.
"Okay."
There was no more and no less, but a simple "okay." With that word spoken, Hermione's body began to go numb and her heart broke so much she thought it might stop beating. She refused to let the tears fall from her eyes in front of the people in Diagon Alley, but as soon as she apparated back to Harry and Ginny's house she fell to the ground and all of her emotions came flooding out at once. She cried out to the sky hoping that someone out there would hear her and make all of the pain go away. Her nails dug into her skin so deeply that she thought she might bleed, but it helped her cope. Maybe if she bled, she would forget about the pain in her heart.
With all the she had gone through in her life, this was not something that should hurt her but yet it still did. Hermione wondered how a world so full of goodness could be so cruel and rip away the thing she cared about most. After the universe created such an amazing friendship between them, if felt like a sick joke to make it fall apart.
Tears continued to flood from her heart. She had never felt so betrayed or lost before. What felt like hours quickly came to pass as the rest of her tears dried up. Hermione had somehow drifted off to sleep, still curled up under a tree. She was awoken by the touch of a hand. It was Harry.
"Hermione, are you okay?" Harry asked, concerned.
Feeling her eyes swelling with tears again, Hermione shook her head and put her arms around Harry as if clinging to the last thing that felt real in the world. Harry didn't mind. He held Hermione close and let her cry out all the pain.