The next day, Hermione sat at her desk signing away on all the paperwork she found when she walked in the morning. No one bothered to do the work for her and instead it just piled up stack after stack.
Blaise sat on a desk of his own under his own pile on the other side of the room he conjured up when he heard that she came back to work. The room was silent except for the sound of paper shuffling.
"This can't go on any longer!" Blaise slammed his hands on his desk. His chair crashed against the wall behind him as he stood.
Hermione's head flew up in surprise and she stared at him wide-eyed at his sudden shout. She looked at him warily as he walked around his desk and stood in front of hers.
"You both are acting like idiots. It's been almost a month and you both are giving me a headache."
"It's not that easy, Blaise," Hermione went back to her paperwork. Her quill was snatched out her hand and she turned to glare at Blaise.
"Don't give me that look. You and I both know that Draco was under the influence of a potion."
"I know," she said.
"Then what's the problem?" He asked.
"I don't know, Blaise," she bit her lip.
"He's not Weasley." Hermione avoided eye contact. "He would never intentionally hurt you."
"I know," she croaked out.
"What are you afraid of?" Blaise asked gently.
"You know I saw Ron the other day." He blinked at her change of subject, but decided to hear her out. He vaguely remembered when he walked in on her sitting on her floor surrounded with alcohol. She changed the subject then. He noticed she was good at that. "It's been a long time since I saw him at his wedding to Lavender." She stayed silent for a moment before going on. "He has a son. He got her pregnant while we were dating and now she has another one of the way. Ginny's pregnant, too." At this her expression scrunched up in pain. "We always talked when we were in school how it would be great if we somehow got pregnant at the same time. After the war, of course."
There was moment of silence. "You never answered my question. What are you afraid of?" He asked.
"What if I'm not meant to be happy?"
A loud bang made her quickly look up; she saw a hole on the wall next to Blaise. Her eyes strayed to his limp hand that was beginning to bleed. She muttered a quick healing spell with her wand and watched as his hand began to glow before the wound closed up and the blood disappeared.
She watched him for a second before flinching at the glare he directed her with. "Let's go."
"What are you—."
"I said let's go." She quickly got to her feet and followed him to the elevator. She saw him press the top button and her heart began to beat at a furious pace.
"Blaise, where are you taking me?" She turned her head to look at him. "Answer me, Blaise, where are we going?"
"It's time to get this over with. I'm sick and tired of watching you beat yourself to the ground. This is stupid and right now you're being stupid."
She flinched at his words and scrambled after him when the door opened and he began to walk down the hall.
"Blaise," she hissed, her eyes wandering over to the curious workers watching her run after him.
"Please, just let it go. I'll talk to him later. Not now. Please don't do this to me," she begged.
Blaise faltered for a second at her pleading then shook his head. Her heart sunk as she found herself in Draco's office. He was currently on the phone, but when he saw who it was he muttered something quick and hung up.
"What's going on here?" Draco looked at Blaise before settling his eyes on Hermione. Hermione avoided his gaze and ran her hands down her skirt nervously.
"You two are going to stay here until you fix this," Blaise said before turning around and walking out of the office, closing the door after him.
Draco and Hermione stood in the same room for what felt like an eternity. Hermione bit her lip, "I can't do this." She turned to the door and turned the knob only to find that it was locked. She cursed at herself for forgetting her wand on her desk.
"Hermione," She closed her eyes at the sound of his voice, refusing to turn to face him. "Hermione, please, just look at me."
Her body began to shake and she felt her throat begin to close. She was tired of crying, tired of everything. A pair of warm arms wrapped around her frame and she felt a warmth she hasn't felt in over a month. She turned around in his arms and covered her face in his chest letting out heart wrenching sobs.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he muttered into her hair.
They stood like that for a long moment. Her sobs and his apologies filling the air. Finally after what felt like an eternity, she pulled back. Her face was flushed from all the crying and she could feel a headache beginning to form. His hands wiped away the tears on her cheeks with his thumbs.
A sigh escaped his lips and he bent his head causing their foreheads to touch. He looked at her and she felt her heart skip a beat at the familiar look he gave her with his steeled grey eyes.
"You know I love you, right?" Hermione hesitantly nodded and looked to the side of her. He grabbed her face gently and faced her to him. He wanted her to say them back, but didn't press. He traced her cheek lovingly, before sighing, "Could you ever forgive me?"
Silence filled the air for a second until a soft voice took over, "I already did. Maybe…" Hermione pulled herself free and walked to his desk, slightly tracing over a framed picture of Draco and her smiling during their date to the carnival. "Maybe that's why it was so hard for me to take you back. Because if I could forgive you so easily…I just don't want to get hurt anymore."
She felt a hand slide through her hair before sliding down to cup her face. Slowly, she turned and looked up at Draco. Her breath caught in her throat at the intensity that was radiating from his eyes.
She missed looking in those eyes. She missed the way she would become breathless with just one glance from them. She missed how his whole attention on her made her go up in flames.
"Can we start over?" He asked. His pleading eyes bored into her and how could she deny him; deny herself. "Please?" He whispered.
Hermione nodding. She saw Draco's form relax, as if a huge weight was removed, and then found herself in a set of arms again. Her face was against his chest and she inhaled the familiar scent of wood and sand. She wrapped her arms around his form and squeezed in return.
"Finally." He whispered into her hair.
"What are we doing here?" After their moment in the office, Draco decided that they needed to make up the date that they missed when that whole fiasco started. When she agreed, she thought they were going to go back to their old tradition: head back to her apartment, find something to wear, and then whisk her off to an unknown destination.
Instead, she immediately found herself at the carnival from their first date. Laughter and squeals surrounded her and she found herself smiling as the familiar feeling of happiness began to fill her.
"You said we could start over." Hermione turned her attention from a small child, dragging both of his parents by the hand towards a stand filled with plush dolls, to a pair of intense eyes. "I remember this was where I finally got you to laugh."
Hermione stared at him, unable to say anything as his words washed over her. She swallowed as she saw him bend down to give her a breathless kiss. When he pulled back, she had to force herself to focus. The familiar smirk returned when Draco figured out the effect he had on her.
"Come on. I want some cotton candy before they're all gone." Draco smiled softly at the sound of laughter behind him as he dragged Hermione towards a food stand. He quickly looked behind him and couldn't help but feel a sense of pride knowing that he was the one who brought that glow back onto her face.
"Sharon quit." Blaise hummed as he scribbled over his report. Draco stood leaning against Blaise's doorframe. He looked at his friend, who was currently ignoring him, and then said casually, "You're lucky she's not suing."
At that, Blaise looked up from his report and had an irritated look. "She's lucky that I didn't do worse to her." Then realizing his mistake, his expression turned into a sheepish one and he rubbed the back of his head. "How'd you know?"
Draco stared at him blankly. "Blaise, I've known you since first year at Hogwarts. I'm pretty sure I know all of your shenanigans."
Blaise gave a snort. "Not as much as you think you do."
"Whatever the case," Draco said. "Thanks."
Blaise shrugged and clicked his pen twice. "Like I was going to let her get away with that. I'll have you know, I've taken a great liking the Granger girl."
Draco shook his head and then looked at him curiously. "What did you do to her anyways?"
Blaise let out wicked smile. "Had her strip down to her knickers in the Ministry's office."
"I bet he enjoyed that."
"Oh, he did. Until, that is, his wife came to visit him for their weekly lunch date. Almost felt sorry for Sharon when the potion wore off and she found herself faced with his wife's rage."
"Did you now?"
"I said almost, didn't I?"
"Right, right."
Once again, Hermione found herself completely lost for words. They've been taking it slow for the past month and every date has ended with her heading back to her apartment. Until today that is. Tonight, instead of snuggling up in her bed and dreaming about the dates and of Draco, she found herself settling in a large armchair next to a fireplace drinking some tea in Draco's home.
She has never stepped foot into his home and she had to admit, his living room was something to be desired for. From his tall, dark silk drapes to his plush rugs, Hermione felt more at home here than in her own apartment.
Currently, she was lost in her own thoughts as Draco left to retrieve something from his bedroom. It wasn't until the feeling of soft fur, moving between her legs, pulled her out of her thoughts and she noticed a grey cat with piercing honey eyes. She didn't know that Draco owned a one, let alone liked animals. He used to give her grief over Crookshanks (rest his soul) when they were young. Reaching down, she slowly caressed the cat's fur and heard him pur.
"I think he likes you." A soft voice pulled her attention away from the cat and she saw Draco lean casually against the entrance door frame.
"You think?" Hermione said as she pulled her hand back. "What's his name?"
"Carl."
Hermione hummed in approval and then laid her head on her hands as she watched Carl head to Draco for attention. Draco knelt down and rubbed his hand against the back of Carl's ear and the cat closed his eyes in bliss before pushing his head against Draco's hand and walking out of the living room.
"Well then." Hermione chuckled at Draco's perplexed face. He then shrugged and headed towards Hermione's sitting form and sat next to her. The awkwardness was still there. It made her feel a little sad. It used to be so easy before all this happened. It lessened, though, as the days went by, and Hermione no longer had the urge to second guess her decision and head home. She wanted this to work and a part of her didn't fully want to admit it, but every date made her have hope again that maybe happily ever after wasn't so far out of her reach.
"Here." Draco shoved a small velvet box into her hands and she looked at the gift in surprise. It couldn't be.
Slowly she opened it and found herself staring into a pair of pearl earrings. They were beautiful and so elegant. She vaguely remembered telling him a long time ago that she always wanted a pair of genuine pearl earrings.
The gift was absolutely breathtaking, but still a part of her almost wished...Even after everything that has happened.
"I bought it for you a while back." He said. He felt his cheeks heat up and he coughed into his hand. "I figured now was a good time to give it to you as any."
"I love it," Hermione whispered back. She leaned forward and gave Draco a slow, chaste kiss. Draco was the first to break the kiss and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, making Hermione snuggle up to his side.
They both leaned on each other in silence for a while. Hermione was starting to feel drowsy from the heat of the fireplace and the soft stroke of Draco's hand on her own.
Months later, after a very big surprise, with the help of a particular Weasley family and an over enthusiastic Blaise, she will remember this night as she is surrounded by cheering friends and a crying self.
"I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I am never letting you go."
But for now, as she succumbs to sleep, she will believe the whispered promise as nothing more than a dream.
FIN
Thank you everyone who has read this story. I'm trying to get into the habit of writing again and every single review always made my day. Hopefully, you all enjoyed this story as much as I have. It's interesting how what was originally supposed to be a one-shot turned into four chapters. I had to keep adding more information as I kept with the story. Hopefully, this streak keeps going.
If you enjoyed this story, check out my Naruto fanfic between Sakura and Sasuke. It's called Defense Mechanism. Maybe you'll enjoy that one as well. I'm currently working on a new idea between Hermione and Severus (as they are my favorite couple in the Harry Potter fanfic world). If you have any ideas, let me know!
À bientôt et bonne nuit!
