Chapter 25

The week at work was uneventful. Her usual lunch with Ginny was cancelled as Ginny was going spare with the whole wedding planning. Towards the end of the week, Hermione had gotten roped into running errands for Ginny, and now she was asked to go pick up Ginny's replacement shoes as the original pair didn't fit properly.

She didn't mind doing it if it would help Ginny. She'd just go pick them up over lunch. Except when she got to Madam Malkins the clerk was busy dealing with, who else but Pansy-bitch.

"White really isn't your colour." Pansy-bitch said when she saw the shoes Hermione were picking up.

"Hello Pansy," Hermione said tightly, "nice to see you."

"Haven't seen you for a while." Pansy said. "Draco hiding you away. He wouldn't be embarrassed would he?"

Hermione just stared at Pansy to see if she was serious, and she was. Which meant that Pansy believed they were still together.

"That's it." Hermione said and grabbed the shoes. "He's dead."

"Oh dear." Pansy said sweetly, obviously believing that she'd caused some trouble.

"Actually Pansy, do you know where he is at the moment."

"And he's not telling you where he is." Pansy said with fake sympathy.

"Just tell me."

"I presume he is at home."

"Which is?"

Pansy's eyebrows raise, but Hermione didn't care. Pansy could think what she wanted. She didn't care about friggin Pansy. Draco and her on the other hand, they were about to have words.

Pansy gave her the address. "Not much of a boyfriend if he won't tell you where he lives. You really should wonder about your relationship."

"You don't know how right you are." Hermione said and strode out. She apparated to the street where Draco was apparently staying in Barnton. She should have guessed he's be in an upmarket magical village like Barnton. She found the house which looked like a miniature French chateau.

An elf opened the door when she knocked, and Hermione pushed the elf aside and walked straight in.

"Where is he?"

"The master is not taking visitors."

"Really, not even his girlfriend."

The elf's eyes widened. It tried to stop her and she suspected she might not be the only girl to force her way into Malfoy's house claiming they were involved.

"Malfoy." Hermione yelled. "Get your pale carcass down here."

"I'm not receiving, Granger." She heard from upstairs.

"Well, I guess you should have broken up with me then."

"Are you still going on about that?" He called back. "I can't help what people assume."

Hermione strode up the stairs. "Somehow, I'm not sure about that. I am starting to wonder why you got involved with this whole charade to begin with."

She tried a few rooms until she found the one he was in. His bedroom. He was still in a robe and PJs.

"Its lunchtime." She said.

"Practically the middle of the night." He said.

"I just saw Pansy and she is under the impression we're a couple." She accused. "Now what would give her that idea, huh? In fact, she thinks you are too embarrassed to be seen with me, so you're hiding me away somewhere."

"I was going to say Pansy's an idiot, but there might be something to that." He said. "Now kindly leave."

"No."

"No?" He said. "You break into my house and accuse me of all sorts of things."

"Oh, I'm sorry." She said sarcastically. "Am I crude enough of accusing you of conducting a fake relationship with me against my will?"

"Nothing was against your will a while back." He said leeringly.

"Completely irrelevant." She said. "And we agreed before that if you didn't break up with me by the end of the week, you're going to Harry and Ginny's wedding as my date."

"I'm not going to Potter's fucking wedding."

"Ok, well, I need to bring a date and I'm not causing any more rumours about me doing so while people think we're still a couple."

Draco shrugged.

"So," she continued, "let's go out somewhere and break up."

"What, now?"

"Yes, now."

"I'm not dressed."

"I don't care." She said. She was going to get him to relent one way or another. "Or maybe I can just ask Blaise to go to the wedding with me, I think he might say yes. Us reconciling would not be entirely harmful to my reputation. It might actually do me good. Shows a bit of consistency."

Draco went still. Hermione was trying it on, she knew there was a think between him and Blaise that was at the centre of this thing, and Draco's motives.

"If you must." He said after a while.

He'd called her bluff. There was no way she would ask Blaise to go with her. That would be a disaster.

"Just break up with me." She whined.

He didn't respond. He turned away from her and approached the little bar on one of the side tables. She realised that he wasn't answering her, actually he was avoiding answering her, which meant that he was 'not' breaking up with her and hadn't been trying at all.

She, for the life of her could not think of why, but there was something going on that she didn't know about and she hated it.

"You're keeping this thing going." She said.

"No." He responded. "Not directly."

"Not directly, what is that supposed to mean?"

He shrugged. This was like pulling teeth. He busied himself with his firewhiskey, which by the way, was way too early in the day.

"Ok," she said carefully like she was talking to a lunatic. "You didn't directly keep this supposed relationship going, which means you indirectly kept it going."

"Not exactly."

"Not exactly." She repeated and rolled her eyes in frustration. "Why don't you explain it to me."

"I don't have to explain anything to you."

"Actually, I think you do." She said. "Considering we are in a relationship, I kind of deserve to know why."

"No reason."

She walked over and pulled him around. "What is the thing with Blaise? Tell me or I will hex your balls off."

"Its nothing." He said. "Blaise is a bastard. He always was. He was using you."

"So what, you were saving me from Blaise?"

"Merlin no." He said. "You deserve each other."

She was actually offended. "But?"

"Blaise originally went out with you for a lark." Draco said. "He was going to date you and dump you, no doubt in a memorable fashion. It is something he's done before."

"Why?" She said. "Just because I'm a mudblood. Or just the fact that I agreed to go out with him?"

Draco walked away from her. "Actually he did it to piss me off. When we were at school, we got drunk one night and I might have mentioned that you were my Unwanted girl."

"I can tell there is something flattering in this." Hermione said curtly. But she bit the bullet. "What is an unwanted girl?"

"If you're a guy, there is a girl you'd fuck even if you didn't want to." He said.

"And I was your…Unwanted girl. That makes absolutely no sense." She stated. She was too focused to get to the bottom than to be hurt by what he was saying. Although it was no surprise that Draco Malfoy hated her in school, he had made it abundantly clear.

"And Blaise went out with me because you didn't want me?" She said, confusion not settling.

"Un unwanted girl, is a girl that you wouldn't be able to say no to even though they are no way near your type or someone you would be seen with in public."

"And I was that for you." She said just to keep things straight. "I am not sure I should be flattered or offended."

"It was the source of Blaise's interest in you." He continued. "But then he didn't break up with you."

"Is there some kind of theme here?" It still wasn't making sense.

"Can we move on now?" He said.

"Not yet." She said. "And where do you come in?"

"He didn't break up with you, but then Blaise lost his nerve." Draco continued. "He hadn't intended on being with you as long as he did. And I think you kind of became his unwanted girl."

"This is still not making sense."

"He liked being with you, and he had not expected that. He lost his nerve because maybe he was liking it a bit too much." Draco said. "And that is where I come in. A bit of a suckerpunch."

"And that is why you're keeping this thing going? To stick it to Blaise?"

He looked completely uncomfortable, which told her there was more.

"You're on a roll," she said, "you might as well keep going."

"It started that way, and maybe I was curious about why Blaise had got so caught up."

"And did you get an answer?"

"I have to get dressed."

"I need you to answer my question."

"Why does it matter?" He said sharply.

Actually she didn't know why it mattered.

"Are you going to come now and break up with me?" She said with gravity.

"Get out or I will get dressed in front of you."

"I've actually seen you naked, if you recall." She said.

He dropped the dressing gown off his shoulders, leaving his chest bare. The silky pyjama pants still covered his lower half. He put his fingers in the waistband to pull them down.

Hermione turned around.

"Wuss." He said.

She heard him walk over to the wardrobe and dress.

"If I break up with you, who will you take?"

"I don't know. Someone." She said. "Not Blaise." Sadly, it was looking like Cormac's brother might be the best option. Actually the easiest option would be to stretch out this stupid relationship another week and just take Malfoy.

"I want you to go with me." She said. "To the wedding. I'll even give you a night prior where I will faun all over you in front of Blaise."

"Why would you want to take me to this wedding?"

"Convenience." She said.

"I fuck my dates."

"Absolutely not." She said with a strong fingerpoint to support her seriousness.

"What, you'll do it once, but not again?"

"It was a one night stand." She said. "The point being it lasts only one night. And aren't I supposed to be the one you don't want?"

"But can't resist." He mumbled.