Happy Mother's Day everyone! *smiles*

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Previously:

Draco stood there, completely flustered, a letter shaking in his outstretched hand.

"It's father," he said.

Chapter 28: An Unexpected Letter

"Your father?!" Hermione shrieked.

Draco nodded. He was shaking with shock. Ginny and Pansy quietly left the room and closed the door behind them. This was clearly not good news, and obviously something which needed to be dealt with in private. Well, at least for the time-being.

"B-b-but he's in Azkaban! How can he send you a letter? I thought communication was banned now?" Hermione asked, sitting down on the bed, her spa treatment forgotten. She closed her eyes as if trying to block out the painful memories she had of Draco's father.

Draco sat down next to her, but didn't touch her. He took some deep breaths.

"That's what I thought. But then again, father always managed to worm his way out of difficult situations."

"What did he say?"

Draco grimaced, "read it. I c-can't do it."

"Why? Is it bad?"

Draco shot her a look. "Of course it's bad. It's my father! Merlin...what did you expect?"

"I don't know..." she whispered. She took the letter from Draco's hand, and shaking slightly, opened the letter.

Draco,

I managed to acquire a copy of the Daily Prophet recently, and was stunned to read the front page. It gave a list of all people in your year that had been coupled under the new Marriage Law. I was disgusted to see that Mudblood's name next to yours. I trust that you have complained about the matter and will be assigned a new partner in due course. It is simply not done for a Malfoy to marry someone who is not a pureblood and especially to that insufferable girl in your year. She is not worthy of you, Draco, and I refuse to accept her into this family. She is worthless, a vile creature who should not have the right to magic. If I knew that this would happen, I wouldn't have let you return to Hogwarts to finish your education. You begged me and your mother to 'earn back the respect for our family' but I do not see how this will help you in your cause. Our name is still very influential- how do you think I was able to send you this letter?

Draco. I am under the belief that I will allowed to leave this prison in as little as two months. When I am released, I expect you to bring your new partner to our home and marry as soon as possible. I have written a letter to your mother explaining my wishes, and she will keep a close eye on you. Need I remind you that you must marry someone of pure blood in order to receive the Malfoy fortune?

Fix this,

Your father.

Dated: 7th October.

Hermione laid the letter on the bed. She felt a lump in her throat, and she felt tears building up. How dare he? Just because I'm not 'of pure blood' doesn't mean that I'm worthless. I'm not vile...

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but instead she burst into tears. Draco sat there, void of any feeling. He couldn't move. He couldn't reach out and comfort the girl he loved. All he could think about was that his father, according to the date of the letter, would be released from Azkaban in less than two weeks. What was he going to do?

The minutes dragged on. And still they sat on the bed, digesting the contents of the letter.

"Draco?" Hermione choked out.

Draco stared listlessly at her. "I'm sorry, I a-am. I need- I need to get out of here."

With that, he stood up.

"Draco?" Hermione asked, her cheeks stained wet with tears.

"I can't, Hermione."

"C-can't what?"

"Be here. With you. Here, now. I need to leave," he said, picking up his coat and scarf from the chair by the door.

"You can't leave me!" Hermione cried out, her hands shaking.

"I know, but...I-I need time to figure this out, what I'm going to do."

He opened the door and moved towards the living area. Hermione stumbled after him.

Harry, Blaise, Pansy and Ginny looked up and immediately looked away, searching for things to do whilst sitting on the sofa. Ginny grabbed a puzzle book from the table, Harry closed his eyes and pretended to be sleeping, Pansy leant against him and took out a copy of the Daily Prophet from the floor and Blaise stared intently at the fire- everything else having been taken. Draco and Hermione didn't notice their friends at all.

"What you're going to do? What about me? It involves both of us! You can't do this alone, please! Stay and talk," Hermione begged.

"Don't you understand?! I can't!" Draco shouted, and then disappeared out of sight as he slammed the door in Hermione's face.

Hermione slumped down against the door, put her head in her hands and sobbed.

Ginny flung the puzzle book down and ran towards Hermione. She helped Hermione up and gently led her to the sofa.

"What happened?"

But Hermione shook her head, too upset to speak. Ginny seemed to understand and held Hermione close, like a mother comforting a child, and let Hermione cry until she couldn't cry any longer.

Later, Hermione was curled up by the fire, a blanket over her as she drank a mug of hot chocolate. Harry had gone into her room to pick up the letter and he had read it to the group. Everyone was stunned, but Blaise had defended Draco's actions. They had to understand that Draco was highly influenced by his father, and had been desperate for his approval since he was a child. This would have obviously shocked him. Some things, Blaise reminded them, took a little time to sink in. Draco would come back eventually; Hermione would just have to be patient. She knew this, but she couldn't get Draco's expression when he had slammed the door. It was a cold, dead expression, like he had forgotten all their happy memories. It had been like she didn't exist anymore- and that scared her a lot more than she cared to admit.

"How you doing?" Harry sat down next to her.

"I could be better," Hermione replied weakly. "Why is it that as soon as everything is running smoothly, and I'm actually happy...why does something have to ruin it?"

"I don't know," Harry said honestly. "Maybe you have to have all your bad luck in one go, before you get married. Maybe as soon as you get married, nothing bad will happen again, you'll be blissfully happy."

"Get real, Harry, you know that's not going to happen. This is me you're talking about. I've never had good luck."

"Are you kidding? What about being the smartest witch in your year? What about those countless times you dodged death and survived?"

"Being the smartest witch in our year isn't luck. It comes down to endless dedication and a lot of hard work. Besides, I never had that much to distract me all those years ago. Now I do, I have Draco. Hell, I have all you lot to deal with on a daily basis! That's why my grades aren't as consistent anymore, I start working, and Draco comes to distract me. And it works..."

"I didn't know your grades had dropped. What to? Troll?" Harry smirked.

"Don't be ridiculous. You're just mocking me aren't you? I'm in a fragile state; it's easy to wind me up."

"No I'm not! I'm being honest. You're the best witch in our year, nothing is going to change that," Harry said firmly, squeezing Hermione's leg.

"I guess... well it's late. Shouldn't you be off to bed?" Hermione asked, changing the subject.

"What about you? Surely you need it more than me."

"No...I'm going to wait. Draco should be coming back soon. I want to make sure I talk to him as soon as possible."

Harry flashed her a sympathetic look, Hermione ignored it.

"Don't wait up too long. He may stay out all night."

Hermione scoffed, and said, "Don't be silly. He'll be cold."

"Whatever you say, Hermione. I'll see you in the morning." Harry hugged her and proceeded to his bedroom.

Hermione snuggled down on the couch so she was lying down. It was blissfully warm; she could have stayed like that forever.

She picked up the forgotten puzzle book and flicked through it. It was a Muggle puzzle book, and Hermione quickly relaxed into a Sudoku, her pencil flying across the page. She had always been good with numbers. But she wasn't good at staying awake after a certain time.

Midnight came, and Hermione snored quietly, puzzle book lying on her face. She was fast asleep. She didn't wake up to a door open and close, because there wasn't a door which opened and closed. Draco didn't return.

"Hermione...wake up...Hermione..." Blaise said gently. He took the puzzle book off her face and waited for her eyes to open.

"Humph..." Hermione murmured.

"I made you breakfast, we have Transfiguration in half an hour..."

Hermione bolted upright.

"What? It's morning?!"

"Yeah..." Blaise grinned. "Monday."

"But...but that means that...Draco didn't come back." Hermione whimpered.

Blaise swore.

"Yeah but...Draco..." he trailed into silence.

"I was supposed to stay awake. Until he got back. He didn't come back and go into our room did he?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"Err...no. I went in there first. The bed hadn't been slept in," Blaise answered honestly. "How about I go have a look around the castle? Drag his lazy ass up here and beg your forgiveness."

"OK," Hermione nodded.

He left the plate of toast on her lap as she rushed out the door.

"Blaise?" Ginny called from their bedroom.

"He went out to find Draco," Hermione yelled.

"What? You mean he didn't come back?" Ginny dashed over to Hermione.

She shook her head.

"The little ferret! He's such an idiot!" Ginny cried out angrily.

"Who's an idiot?" Pansy asked, her hair wet from the shower.

"Draco! He didn't come back!"

Pansy gasped, "No! But what about Hermione?"

"Umm...I'm right here guys," Hermione replied, raising her hand. The other two girls ignored her.

"I don't know! He obviously isn't thinking straight. I might go join Blaise in the hunt for him...I have a free period next anyway."

"Yes, that's a good idea. I'll go dry my hair, and then I'll join you."

Ginny and Pansy went back to their rooms. Hermione rolled her eyes and got up off the sofa, stretching her limbs. Her neck hurt a bit, probably from the high arm rest which she had used for a pillow. She retreated into her room, leaving the toast in the living area. She wasn't hungry.

She picked up her school clothes and went into the bathroom. She turned on the shower, switching it to the 'Monsoon' effect and undressed quickly. She wanted to forget about the letter, wanted to forget that her fiancé had basically left her without any real explanation. She wanted to pretend everything was alright. The stream of water hit her back. Hermione smiled lazily as she pulled out the shower seat and sat down, letting her drown all her negative thoughts.

Half an hour went past quickly, and Hermione still sat under the flood of water coming from the ceiling. She didn't hear the banging on the door. Her eyes closed, she only realised someone was in the bathroom with her when the door opened and a blast of cold air hit her. Hermione screamed and lunged blindly at her intruder.

The intruder turned off the shower and handed Hermione a towel. Hermione opened her eyes and screamed again. It was Draco.

"You-you-you idiot! How could you just leave me here? I hate you!" Hermione cried, arms flailing. Her towel dropped to the floor, but she didn't care that she was naked. Anger pulsed inside her, filling every single inch of her body.

Draco didn't speak. He knew that she had a lot of emotion inside her, a lot of anger. She needed to let it out. He was as still as a statue, letting Hermione punch him and kick him, not uttering a word. He deserved it.

Eventually, Hermione tired out. She slumped to the floor, still muttering, "I hate you. I hate you. I hate you."

Draco bent down and kissed her. Hermione pulled away immediately. As she reached out for the dressing gown on the door, she hissed angrily, "No. You can't just kiss me and think everything will be ok. You acted like a child! You didn't take the adult option, the right option, of sitting down and talking it through."

"I'm sorry," Draco rasped. His voice was dry. "You have no idea. I did the wrong thing, I know that. But...I was overwhelmed..." he trailed off. Hermione stared stonily at him. This is going to be hard...

"Listen, why don't you get changed, and we can go for a walk. Pretend last night didn't happen; act as though we just got it? Blaise told Professor McGonagall what happened, and she excused us from her lesson. We do have to go to PRC though. Apparently, it's going to be an important lesson."

"Maybe I don't want to. Maybe I want to stay in here forever," Hermione said defiantly.

"Don't be so immature," Draco glowered.

"Why not?" Hermione retorted.

"Because," Draco raised his hands, gesturing wildly.

"So you can behave like a child, but I can't? Is that what you're saying?"

"No! That's not what I'm saying."

"Then what are you saying?"

"Listen, you're mad at me. I get that. But you can't behave like a child, at the same time as me. We'd never get anywhere. Once of us has to be the adult." Draco said.

"But you're implying it has to be me! Why can't I be the child?"

"Because I'm the child! I'm the one who makes the mistakes, you never do!"

"I don't make mistakes? How are you so sure? Maybe this," she gestured to the two of them, "is a mistake. I thought I was marrying someone I could trust, who respected me and would protect me. But what you did last night...that's not the action of someone I trust."

"Hermione! You're making too big a deal of this. Yes, I went off, to think this through by myself. But that doesn't mean I don't care about you. I wanted to protect you, and that's why I walked off, so I wouldn't hurt you if I stayed and took my anger out on you. I love you, don't do this, Hermione. Please," Draco said. He didn't want to lose her, but he was scared he already had.

"I'm not making a big deal out of this. That letter...affects us both. We have to get through this together. What will you do next time we face difficulties? Will you run off again? Our future isn't going to be blissfully happy all the time, we're going to argue, we're going to fight...and I'm scared that you'll just leave me again. That's rational isn't it?"

"It would be rational if that was the truth. I would never leave you, it hurts too much."

"It-it hurts too much? Then why did you stay out the entire night last night? Why didn't you come back? I stayed on the couch, waiting for you. But you never came! That... hurts."

"I'm sorry, Hermione! Do we have to stay fighting about this? Can't we just figure out what we're going to do about my father? Surely that's more important?"

Hermione was silent. She didn't know what to say anymore. Yes, Draco's father was more important, he threatened to tear them apart, but she couldn't accept that Draco had left her to deal with it himself. Weren't they supposed to be a team? Weren't they supposed to comfort each other?

"Fine. I think we should tell Dumbledore about this. We can't handle this ourselves," Hermione said.

Draco sighed with relief. He went to embrace her, but she pushed him away.

"Just because I accept that your father is more important, doesn't mean I want you to touch me."

Draco stared in astonishment. "I was trying to comfort you," he spat. "I thought that's what you wanted?"

"It is. But I don't want you to comfort me just because I told you."

"How do you know that? Maybe I just wanted to hold you! You're unbelievable..."

Hermione ignored him, "Now, if you don't mind. I'd like to finish getting dressed. Close the door on your way out."

Draco shook his head in disbelief. What was up with her? He apologised, he agreed with her, he did what she said...but she still doesn't forgive him. Girls...

He turned round and closed the door behind him. Then he lay down on the bed, stared up at the ceiling and tried not to think about the mess he was in. He heard the shower turn back on and realised Hermione would be in there for quite a while.

I know...quite a depressing chapter, but they need some drama! It can't all be flowers and bunnies can it? Besides, I wanted Lucius to become a part of this story, and they're not actually very nice. I can't write them nice...it's just...no.

I'll try and update around Thursday, but it's most likely going to be next Sunday.

Questions:

Number One: What was your favourite part/line of this chapter?

Number Two: The mention of PRC? Why do you think it will be important?

Number Three: What is your favourite song at the moment? Mine is the Glee mash up of 'Don't Stand So Close To Me' and 'Young Girl.' Glee is just awesome *grins*

Review please : )