A/N: Managed to update quicker than before, yay! A bit of an averaged sized chapter, hope you like it. Oh, and there's nothing M rated in this chapter - it's a safe one :)
Thank you to everyone who reviewed - you guys are amazing! And Happy Easter! :)
xBx
~ Chapter 24: Almost back to Normality ~
The crowd in the Great Hall slowly swelled around her, and when Ginny joined her at the Gryffindor table, Hermione was already halfway though her dinner. Before Hermione could form a greeting, they were joined by Neville, Dean and Parvati, who spewed out the greetings Hermione was about to say herself.
"How come you weren't on the train, Hermione?" Parvati asked, taking a seat next to Ginny.
"I opted to floo back." Hermione explained, "How was your holiday?"
"Wonderful. We spent the time with out grandmother, in India. I'm kind of disappointed we missed Harry's party though, from what these guys were saying it sounds like it was great fun. But it was nice to see the family again. How was yours, Lady heiress?" Parvati ginned.
Hermione groaned, "It's that story spreading already?"
Parvati giggled, "You should now by now, gossip spreads quicker than fiendfyre here. Especially when it concerns any member of the Golden Trio." She said with a smirk.
"My holiday was fine." Hermione said, ignoring that particular comment and answering Parvati's question. "Lots of essay writing, and getting to grips with the family business. Harry's party was kind of awesome though." She admitted, "It's a shame you couldn't be there, but no doubt he'll throw another party before the year's out. Maybe we could do something for Graduation?" Hermione suggested.
"Speaking of New Years," Ginny piped up, as Parvati became engrossed in conversation with Dean, "I didn't get to hear the gossip." She said with a grin, piling food onto her plate. "I want to hear all about your 'library' session'."
At that moment, Hermione noticed Draco enter the hall and make his way to the Slytherin table. She scowled at his figure, as she answered Ginny, "Not at the dinner table."
Ginny frowned as she took in Hermione's scowl, and followed the direction of her glare, "I don't get it? Didn't you two…you know?"
"Yeah, so?" Hermione said, spearing a piece of beef rather harshly with her fork.
"So, why are you glaring at him? I thought you were getting on? Are you together? What's happened?" Ginny asked.
"He kicked me out of my bath and stole my book." Hermione said. Ginny was silent for a good minute or so, trying to make sense of this comment.
"I'm sorry, what?" She asked, then shook her head, "Actually, you know what, I don't want to know about your kinky games."
Hermione laughed, and elbowed Ginny, "Nothing kinky." She reprimanded, "It's a long story. It's weird, we've seen each other all of five minutes since we got back, and it's like we're right back to how we was before – as if New Years never happened. But at the same time, it's different, like were more comfortable with each other. I don't know." Hermione finished lamely.
"Ask him." Ginny said.
"Yeah, that's going to go well: Hey, we slept together and I'm eng- " Hermione stopped herself, she was on the verge of saying I'm engaged to another man, but what's going on with us?
"Erm, I mean," she tried to recover, "oh, I don't know what I mean. It's complicated." She finished, as the golden plates in front of her cleared, and desserts now filled the table. She immediately helped herself to a large portion of chocolate fudge cake – chocolate always made her feel better.
Toward the end of dessert, Luna wandered over, in her usually dreamy state, and squeezed into the bench beside Hermione.
After the usual exchanges of standard greetings, Hermione asked: "Where were you for the holidays? We missed you at New Years, it wasn't the same without you." She said, in all honesty.
"Thank you," Luna said, "That was a nice thing to say. I find you're nicer after the war, you snap less. Or is that the effect that Draco Malfoy is having on you?"
Hermione had no idea what to say: once again Luna showed her talent of speaking uncomfortable truths and ridiculous notions all in one. Ginny was absolutely no help as she was laughing into her pudding at that moment.
"What did you do over the holidays, Luna?" Hermione asked again, deciding simply to ignore the previous comments.
"Daddy and I went to Greenland to investigate the Crumple-Horned Snorkack sightings." She said with a smile.
"How did that go?" Hermione asked, trying to refrain from rolling her eyes. She had grown to truly love Luna as one of her closest friends, but sometimes the girl was simply incorrigible.
"Well and not well." She stated. "We didn't see a Snorkack. But we did find this in native Mistletoe plants." She pulled out a glass jar and placed it on the table in front of them.
Inside was a wispy-looking fairy-like creature. It looked to be made of a similar substance to a ghost, only more substantial and the colour of its matter shifted in the light, so that one moment it was blue, another it was red.
Hermione leaned in to get a closer look, "What is it?" she asked, intrigued, but her voice sounded distant to herself, and soon she began to lose all train of thought, becoming entirely transfixed at the strange new creature in front of her.
Luna grabbed the jar, and returned it carefully into her robe pocket. Once the creature was out of sight, the fuzziness in Hermione's head seemed to dissipate; the glazed look left her eyes. She shook her head a blinked, "What was that?" She asked again.
"A Nargle." Luna declared dreamily, and Hermione thought she detected a hint of smugness.
"Well, I'll be damned." Hermione breathed, "Truly?"
Luna nodded, "We found a whole colony, Daddy took pictures, would you like to see them?"
"Yes," Hermione nodded, "I actually would." Luna smiled her dreamy smile, and pulled a stack of photographs from another pocket and handed them over.
"Luna, this is an incredible find," Hermione commended her as she leafed through the pictures, some of which displayed more Nargles than she could count. "Have you been to the ministry yet? You need to document this, this is the discovery of a new species, and no one truly believed they existed. This is monumental. You need to send an owl, right away." Hermione continued to babble on, and Luna let her talk, smiling serenely, and Hermione wasn't entirely sure she was listening.
###
After Draco had showered, and dressed to go down to the Great Hall for dinner, he reluctantly emerged from his room – Hermione's book in hand – and prepared himself to feel her wrath. Perhaps pushing her was the wrong thing to do, but he wasn't thinking entirely straight when he had made that particular decision. There she was, standing in front of him, dripping wet, and wearing nothing but the smallest of towels. Quite frankly, she had never looked more enticing, he had never wanted her more, and as a result he was incapable of forming a single coherent thought. So instead of making a fool out himself, and launching himself at her there and then, he decided to escape her and simultaneously piss her off – not the smartest of decisions in retrospect, but he hadn't been in his right mind.
He had no idea what was going on between them: they hadn't spoken since New Years, and she had been incredibly angry that night. It was entirely plausible that Hermione had been guided by anger and retaliation, as opposed to feelings and lust, and Draco wasn't quite ready to deal with that possibility yet.
Luck was on his side, however, as the tower appeared to be empty. Draco didn't plan on sitting at the Slytherin table alone, and as the train would not be getting into the station for another fifteen minutes at least, he decided to relax in front of the fire for at least half an hour. Curiosity getting the better of him, he decided to take Hermione up on her advice, and picking up her book he began to read. She was right, it was rather gripping – so gripping, that he ended up being late for dinner.
When he made it to the hall, the room was full and noisy, he made his way hastily to the Slytherin table and took a seat between Blaise and Theo.
"We wondered where you'd got to!" Theo hailed, as Draco took his seat, "Blaise was just telling me about Potter's party. I can't believe these words are about to escape me, but it sounds like it was a good night."
"Yeah, it was pretty good." Draco said, piling food on his plate.
"What kept you?" Blaise asked, "We got back twenty minutes ago."
"I was reading." Draco said simply, loading his fork with roast beef.
"You've been spending too much time with Granger, mate." Theo joked. Draco gave him a dark look, but didn't say anything. Theo took the hint, at least, and turned his attention to Blaise.
"So, how are things between you and the she-Weasley?" Theo asked the Italian.
Blaise grinned, "Oh they're good." He said pointedly, "Very good."
Draco tuned out the conversation going on around him. When dinner was cleared and dessert appeared in its place, his eyes wandered the hall, coming to rest on the Gryffindor table, more particularly, on the brunette who looked to be over indulging in chocolate judging by the huge slice of cake on her plate. He knew from experience that women tended to use chocolate as comfort food - was she unhappy? She didn't seem too unhappy, she was joining in with the conversations around her, smiling at her friends – but, Draco thought, she's from a society similar to mine: we're always happy on the outside. Inside is a different place.
He was rudely brought back to the Slytherin table by a stinging slap to the back of his head.
"What was that for?" Draco demanded roughly.
"You were staring." Theo told him, "Get a grip. Next thing you know, people will be saying how you're in love." He joked.
Draco rolled his eyes – not realising that he was emulating his fellow head almost to perfection.
"Don't be ridiculous." Draco drawled, "Everybody knows that Malfoys are incapable of such emotion." He intended it to be a flippant and sarcastic response, but instead he found his voice was edged with bitterness – that was, after all, what everybody thought of him and his family, though it was completely unjust. He shoved his plate away from him, suddenly losing his appetite, and pushed himself back from the table.
"I'm going to head back to the tower, anyone care to join me?" He offered half-heartedly.
"Not me," Theo sighed, "Got that potions essay to finish."
"I'll come with you," Blaise said, "I said I'd meet Ginny there."
Draco rolled his eyes again; of course his tower was being used by his friend to hook up with a Gryffindor.
"So, what's happening with you and Granger now?" Blaise asked as they walked the empty hallways, "I have a feeling we had this conversation over cigars at New Years, but I'm struggling to remember the finer points."
"Do you remember billiards?" Draco asked with a chuckle, avoiding the question.
"Nope." Blaise said, "Do you?"
"No," Draco laughed again, "But according to my mother, we suck. She saw the aftermath, and only the cue ball found its way into a pocket."
"Where were the rest?" Blaise asked warily,
"The floor, chair, shelf. Everywhere but the table basically." Draco said, and Blaise laughed.
"I blame the shots. Muggles are crazy when it comes to alcohol." Blaise said grinning, as they approached the painting.
"So do I," Draco muttered before giving the password. When they entered the tower, Draco went strait to the seat he had left before dinner, picking up the book on the coffee table.
"You still haven't answered my question," Blaise said, taking a seat opposite. "Are you for real?" He asked abruptly, taking in Draco, "The first thing you do is open a bloody book, when I want information. What has Granger turned you into?"
"It's a very good book." Draco defended, just as the portrait opened and the two Gryffindors entered.
Hermione was babbling enthusiastically about something, but when she saw Draco – or more precisely, what Draco was reading – she stopped.
"Are you kidding me?" She almost shouted, "You're reading my book?"
"It's a very good book, apparently." Blaise answered dryly.
"It is," Draco nodded at Blaise "You should read it. Borrow it after me if you like."
"Hang on!" Hermione said, "First you're reading my book without my permission, now your passing it out to others? Would you at least do me the courtesy of letting me finish the damn thing first?"
"Shhh." Was Draco's only response.
"Did you just shush me? Unbelievable." Hermione said, gearing up to rant but Draco cut her off.
"Just let me finish this chapter, at least, it's getting interesting. This kid is eavesdropping, and he's hearing things he shouldn't. The plot is thickening."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Preaching to the choir, I've read it remember? Well, most of it." She grumbled.
Draco ignored her and returned to his – no her – book. Blaise and Ginny exchanged a look behind Hermione.
"Okay." Ginny said, "We're going to go for a walk, leave you two to your weird little lover's drama you got going on."
When Blaise and Ginny departed, Hermione fell into a chair, "Can I please have my book back." She tried again.
"In a minute," he said again, "Gods, woman, let me finish the chapter. Here, while you wait you can open your package." He summoned a parcel from the study table, landing it expertly in Hermione's lap.
"Who's it from?" She asked curiously.
"My mother." Draco said, not lifting his eyes from the page.
Hermione stared, "Your mother?" she repeated.
Draco sighed, "Yes. My mother." He repeated, "Seriously, let me read."
Hermione couldn't help but grin a little at his exasperation, but she refrained from outright laughter and turned her attention to the parcel in her lap. Untying the string, she unwrapped four books: the top one was her own copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard with a letter resting on top.
Before investigating the other books in the parcel, Hermione unfolded the letter, and silently read, wondering what on earth Narcissa Malfoy had to say to her.
Dear Miss Granger,
Thank you so much for your generosity of allowing me to borrow your original copy of The Tales… Such a unique item, and I have thoroughly enjoyed examining it. Enclosed in this parcel you will also have found an additional three books. Draco told me you had expressed an interest in the journals of the Grimm brothers, and as a thank you for your kindness, I have you sent you the three Journals to peruse at your leisure. I hope you find them as enjoyable as I did.
I'm sorry I never got to speak to you properly at New Years, but the little we did talk I enjoyed. I feel I owe you a thousand apologies for the way my family and I have treated you in the past. I know you and I vary rarely came in contact, but I do remember a chance meeting in Madam Malkins, where I was incredibly rude and abusive to you. I offer you my sincerest apologies for the words I spoke, and I have no excuse to give except that, due to the choices I made earlier in life, I then had a part I needed to play to keep my family safe. I hope in time you will be able to forgive me, and that we might one day become close acquaintances, at the very least.
I will send this package with Draco, when he returns to School, hopefully he will give this to you not long after your arrival – though knowing my son, you could very well be reading this in March.
Narcissa Malfoy.
Hermione folded the letter back up, not really sure how to feel about receiving an incredibly friendly note from Mrs Malfoy, and placed it on the coffee table before turning her attention to the leather bound journals in her lap.
She gingerly opened the cover of the top-most book, excitement causing her hands to tremble ever so slightly. The journals, however, proved an instant disappointment, and Hermione kicked herself for not thinking of this little snag before hand. Of course the entire thing was written in German, and while she had a very basic understanding of the language, she was going to need a dictionary to fully translate the writings.
"Son of a bitch!" Draco exclaimed, suddenly, causing Hermione to jump. She looked up at him with a frown, and he explained his expletive: "The kid just got thrown from the window. This book is brutal!" He exclaimed.
"Ahh," Hermione said in understanding, "Now you've finished the chapter, can I have it back? I want to finish it before I go to sleep."
"Are the journals not enticing enough for you?" He mocked with a grin, but he held out her book al the same.
"I'm not fluent in German, and I'm too tired to translate now." Hermione said, rising from her seat and taking her book in her spare hand.
Hermione hesitated a moment, wanting to say something but unsure what. What happened between them at New Years was an elephant in the room, but she didn't know how to bring it up. On second thoughts, why did she want to bring it up? What was she supposed to say? In the end, she simply said "Goodnight," before disappearing up her staircase.
###
The first week back was remarkably uneventful, except of course for Luna's amazing discovery, which spread like fiendfyre through the school. At every chance she got, Hermione was perusing the papers she had brought from home and by the end of week she finally felt like she was making some headway. Having got all her homework out the way during the week, Hermione spent most of Sunday in her sitting room, strategically placing a plethora of coloured pins into a map of England. At around seven that evening, there was a knock on her door.
"Come in," she called distractedly, placing another pin in the map. She heard the door open, and lifted her head to see Draco saunter in.
"Blaise and Weaselette are downstairs and it is sickening to be around." He declared, "Stop being so bloody anti-social and get downstairs."
"Give me a minute," Hermione said, still bent over the map.
Draco stepped further into the room to get a better look at what had her so preoccupied, "What are you doing?" he asked.
Hermione looked up with a grin, "The three stickers are the locations of the practices, and the little pins represent the clients. All colour coordinated, as you can see: red for London, blue for York, and green for Leeds. The darker coloured pins represent the regular clients, who come to us for their routine check-ups every six months, for fillings and polishing and general dentistry. The lighter pins are the clients that come to us for the more high end cosmetic treatments, like veneers, gum lifts, bite reclamation." Hermione explained.
"I'm going to stop you there," Draco said, "I didn't understand a word of that."
Hermione laughed, "Doesn't matter, you don't need to. All you need to know is that the dark pins are regulars; the pale pins are rare, more expensive, procedures that you want done right. I've only gone through half the client lists for each clinic, but you can already see the pattern emerging."
Draco looked at the map and nodded his head in understanding. The darker pins were clustered around the same colour sticker, but the paler pins stretched out further a field. "For the more costly one-offs, people are willing to travel further." Draco said.
"Exactly. But they will still be getting their regular treatments at their local dentist. Now, what we need to do is expand the business, to increase our income. To do that we need to open two, maybe three, more practices. If someone is willing to travel from Coventry all the way down to London to see us, it's likely they'll travel a shorter distance more regularly, thus giving us more custom." Hermione explained her theory,
"If I can pick the right locations, we could potentially turn our one-off clients into regulars, which will provide us with a more steady income. On top of that, we should be able to increase our client numbers from the nearby cities, that some people might think are too far from the current clinics to justify travelling at the moment. There's a lot distance between London and Leeds," she said, looking at the map, "If we were to open in Nottingham, for example, we could gain clients from as far out as Stoke, Leicester, maybe even Coventry. We already have a few from Coventry who made the trek to London, and Nottingham is definitely closer. I just have to work out the numbers." Hermione finished.
"Where would you open a second?" Draco asked, scanning the map, "You have the south and the Midlands pretty well canvassed – if you open in Nottingham – but North is looking pretty empty of pins."
Hermione smiled and pointed, "Newcastle." She said simply. "There is the possibility of branching further, and going over into Scotland. But that's a whole other conversation. For now I'm going to focus on those two places. Like I said, I just need to figure out the numbers." She finished, glancing over to where the business ledgers sat on her coffee table.
Draco noticed the furtive look and grabbed her arm, "No. That can wait. You've done enough today, now you can get down them stairs and put a stop to the over the top PDA's going on between our friends."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "I'm sure it's not that bad." Hermione scoffed over her shoulder, as she headed downstairs.
"Oh, seriously?!" Hermione shouted out when she reached the bottom of the staircase. "Do you have to do that here?"
Ginny looked over her shoulder and grinned sheepishly, "The room was empty." She defended. She was currently straddling Blaise in one of the seats by the fire, a moment before their lips had appeared glued to one another's.
"Well, the tower is not. Why do you have to do that here?" Hermione asked.
"Neutral ground." Blaise said, as Ginny finally removed herself from his lap, "Where else are we supposed to go? We can't go to each other's common room."
"Why don't you try the Room of Requirement?" Hermione suggested, walking over to the writing table by the window, "I have some letters to write, and I would rather not witness you two going at it like rabbits."
"Does the Room of Requirement even work anymore, after you burnt it down?" Ginny asked, ignoring the last part of Hermione's speech.
"Firstly, I didn't burn it down – Crabbe cast the fiendfyre, not me. And Secondly, why don't you go find out? There's a chance the magic will still work, after all it was the room of hidden things we destroyed, maybe the damage is limited to that room only." Hermione suggested.
"It's possible," Ginny conceded, "But surely you don't want rid of us that badly? Come on 'Mione, I've hardly seen you all weekend." Ginny moaned, following Hermione over to the writing table, and sitting down by the window.
Draco took a seat on the couch, at the end nearest to Blaise's chair, and with the girls out of earshot, Blaise looked at Draco significantly.
"So," Blaise started quietly, "What's the go?" he asked.
"What are you talking about?" Draco asked wearily, not sure he wanted to engage in a conversation about feelings – that was just too girly for a Sunday evening.
"I now remember a fair amount of what we talked about while attempting to play billiards," Blaise told him, "So I remember you telling me what happened at Potter's house with Granger. So, what's happening with you now? Are you two a couple or…?" Blaise trailed off.
"It's complicated." Draco said.
"You haven't spoken to her properly since have you?" Blaise stated, shaking his head. "What's wrong with you, Drake? Usually you have no problem talking to women: you've managed to break the heart of every Slytherin girl in our year, and a good few in the year below. How come you've suddenly lost your words?"
Draco scowled at his friends, "Like I said, the situation is complicated."
Blaise waited for a moment, "That's it, that's all I get?"
"I'm not going use lines on her that I used on women I messed with the past couple of years: I told them what they wanted to hear, not what I wanted to say. I won't do that to Granger." Draco said reluctantly.
Blaise grinned, "This is whole new territory for you, isn't it?" He said, still grinning, and leaning back into the chair.
In that moment, Draco truly envied his best friend: he had conquered that great divide. He was a Slytherin openly dating a Gryffindor; sure, they had got their fair share of whispers and stares in the beginning, but eventually people had got over their shock and Blaise and Ginny were happy. It was so un-complicated for them. There was no 'other person' forced into the equation, which they had to get rid of.
"Have you spoken to her at all?" Blaise pressed on, when Draco didn't respond.
"Of course," Draco answered, not looking his friend in the eye.
"About what happened over the holidays." Blaise pressed again, beginning to lose his patience, "Look, I get that 'it's complicated' as you keep telling me. And I figure there's something else that you two know, but no one else does, so I'm not going to pry into what that is. But if you don't do something soon, you're going to be miserable – more miserable than you appear to be at present. You made a great leap forward at New Years. Don't screw it up now by taking a million steps back."
"It's hard to talk to someone who doesn't want to talk back." Draco snapped.
"Then make her." Blaise stated, but didn't press the matter as Ginny left her place at Hermione's side, and made her way back to Blaise.
###
"What's going on?" Ginny asked, pulling her seat closer to the writing table as she sat down.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked pulling a sheaf of parchment in front of her, and loading her quill with ink.
"You've been quite quiet since we got back. Something's wrong, I can tell." Ginny stated quietly.
Hermione glance up at the boys, who were now involved in their own conversation and completely oblivious to what the girls were talking about.
"I haven't been quiet, I've been busy." Hermione said, "Studies are cranking up a lot, I'm applying for a place in the Ministry, which involves a lot of paperwork. I'm also learning about my parents' business as one day I'm going to own it, so I need to know everything I possibly can about it. On top of that I have Head Girl duties, though at the minute, it's pretty quiet on that front as the next thing that concerns us is the first Hogsmeade trip of the term, which isn't until February, so I can't really complain." Hermione shrugged, "I'm just tired."
"Hermione, it's week one." Ginny pointed out, "If you're already like this, you're going to burn yourself out, something's got to give." She said, giving Hermione a shrewd look, "Unless of course, all that is just a front: you can in fact handle all that going on, but you're hiding something else. Something that is stressing you out more than all those factors combined. Something like feelings, for example. You haven't spoken to him properly yet, have you?" Ginny accused.
Hermione was silent for a minute or so, simply looking at Ginny with an impassive face. "Sometimes I hate you, do you know that?" She said simply and Ginny laughed.
"Only because I'm so perceptive, and it freaks you out." Ginny grinned, "So, are you going to talk about it?"
"It's complicated." Hermione said simply, turning her attention back to her letter writing.
"It always is." Ginny grumbled, "Fine, if you're not going to talk to me about it, I can't force you. But for Godric's sake, you better get over yourself and talk to him about it soon, before it's too late for the both of you. So, who are you writing to?" Ginny asked, respecting her friend's boundaries, and changing the subject.
"Harry first. Then I have to write to Beth – you know," She added, sensing Ginny's frown. "Who we met at Harry's, his cousin's girlfriend. I'm also writing to Nick, the head of the 'creature department."
"You're on first name basis?" Ginny asked with raised eyebrows an a grin, "That was quick."
"I would quite like a job there, it doesn't hurt to be friendly." Hermione grinned. "And then," she said more slowly, deliberating, "I have to answer a note, and send a thank you of my own, to Mrs Malfoy." She said, staring intently at her parchment, not wanting to look Ginny in the eye.
Ginny was silent for a moment, "I'm sorry," she said finally, "But I thought you just said you were responding to a letter from Mrs Malfoy."
"I did." Hermione said, signing the parchment and moving it to the side to dry, before pulling a fresh sheaf of parchment in front of her.
"You did," Ginny repeated, and Hermione looked up in resignation.
"Say whatever you want to say," Hermione sighed.
Ginny gave a half-hearted shrug, and she was clearly trying to stop herself from laughing, "You and Malfoy have … well, you have something going on, though no one but you guys seem to know what it is, because 'it's complicated'. And now you're corresponding with his mother. It's a very daughter-in-law thing to do. There I said it." Ginny held up her hands, and let out a small chuckle.
Hermione didn't know what to say, so simply looked at Ginny with a pained expression, who just laughed.
"I'm going to go, leave you to your letter writing." Ginny said after a moment, "I'm going to take Blaise with me, and you are going to talk to Malfoy. You're all…angsty and…wallowing." Ginny said, "It's not you, and I don't like it. So change it."
"You're starting to sound like your mother, when you tell people what to do." Hermione frowned, thinking Ginny might take offence. But to her disappointment, Ginny just grinned.
"Good. Have you noticed how no one argues with my mother? Instead, they do what she says." Ginny gloated, before moving away towards Blaise.
Hermione bent over her parchment, starting on her second letter. A few moments later she heard the portrait open and close, and then there was silence except for the crackling of the fire. Despite the silence, Hermione could sense Draco's presence, though a good half hour passed before he spoke.
Hermione had finished her second letter, and was just making a start on the next, when Draco finally spoke.
"Your letters causing you trouble?" He asked, and Hermione looked up.
"Why would you assume that?" She queried, confused. She had, in fact, been struggling to find the right words to start with, on this particular one.
Draco shrugged, "You've been writing continually for the past hour, even when Weaselette was distracting you. But now you're frowning at your page."
Hermione smiled consciously, and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.
"Whom are you writing to?" Draco asked.
"Well, I've written to Harry, and Beth. And now I'm writing to your mother." She told him.
"My mother?" Draco clarified, looking wary and confused, "Why?" he asked slowly.
"She wrote to me," Hermione said, "And it would only be right for me to reply, not to mention I should thank her for lending me the journals. Plus, if I don't reply soon, no doubt you'll get a note reprimanding you for not giving me the package – according to her note, she seems to think it was possible that it would be March by the time I got it."
"That's…erm," Draco seemed to be struggling to find the right words to say, "You're writing to my mother, that's weird."
"Tell me about it," Hermione agreed, "I never thought I'd ever exchange so much as a pleasant glance with her, not when less than a year ago I was in her house being-" She stopped suddenly, her eyes widening in horror at what she had been about to say.
"I'm sorry," Hermione said hurriedly. Draco's face was calm and serene, but a second before Hermione had seen the anguish flit momentarily in his eyes – he knew exactly what she was about to say. "I shouldn't have said that. That was thoughtless. I don't even know why I brought it up. I'm sorry." She said, hurriedly.
Draco shook his head, "Don't apologise. We're not going to forget about it any time soon, so there's no point pretending we have."
"I've offended you, upset you, I'm sorry. We're all trying to move on, but I'm not doing anyone any favours by dragging up the past." Hermione shook her head, and put her head in her hands. Why did she always have to put her foot in it?
"Granger, relax." Draco said, "It's fine." But he didn't sound like it was fine. His voice sounded strained, as though he was trying to hide his anger.
Hermione stood up, leaving her letters, she walked away from the table toward the fire, "I'm sorry," She said again, "I'm tired, I've so many things going around my head, I'm not paying attention to what's coming out of my mouth. I didn't mean to make you angry."
"I'm not angry." Draco said quickly, his tone of voice betraying his words, and Hermione gave him a sceptical look.
"Right, sure you're not." She challenged, "Malfoy, of course you're angry with me. I would be too, seeing as I can't stop bringing up things best forgotten." Hermione turned, as if to make her way upstairs, but stopped when Draco stood up.
"I'm not angry about that." Draco countered, "If anything, I'm frustrated because I feel we're walking on eggshells. You've hardly spoken to me since we returned."
"Because I don't know what to say to you." Hermione blurted out and before she knew it, the words were tumbling out of her mouth and she was powerless to stop: "Our situation is strange enough as it is: We've grown up hating each other, only to get to know each other and realise we don't hate each other at all. To find out, that we actually rather like each other. Add onto that this…chemistry that neither one of us can deny, especially when alcohol is involved. But what do we do next?" Hermione asked, "It's not exactly a simple situation."
"Why not?" Draco asked, and Hermione gave him an incredulous look.
"Because of Richard!" she stated, "The man I'm supposed to marry in June. Even though I can't stand him. So yes, I have hardly spoken to you. Not because I don't know what to say, but because I don't know if I can say what I want to say."
Hermione blinked, and silently cursed. For some reason her eyes were misting over, and a lump was forming in her throat – what was the matter with her? She didn't cry over trivial things such as these!
"What do you want to say?" Draco asked quietly, stepping toward her.
Hermione swallowed, "Things I shouldn't say while engaged to someone else." She said again, "But then again, it's already well established that I'm one hell of a hypocrite, so why should I stop now." She said, almost bitterly.
Draco frowned, "How are you a hypocrite?" He asked, and Hermione laughed.
"How am I not?" She asked, "I always shove the rules down peoples throat, tell them it's for their own good to toe the line. But from day one, I've flouted the rules, and broke them religiously every year. I fought against discrimination against blood-status in the wizarding world, yet I consider myself so much better than Richard, because my heritage – my blood – is better than his. And now, I tear Richard a new one for sleeping with another woman while he's supposed to be engaged to me, and here I am, doing the same! I slept with you, knowing I had condemned him for similar actions, only hours before. And now," Hermione threw her hands in the air, but didn't finish her sentence, she didn't know what she was wanting to, what she should say.
"And now, what?" Draco whispered, now standing right in front of her. He placed his hands on her arms, "Now, what?" He repeated.
Hermione shrugged, and shook her head slowly, "I don't know."
"Yes you do." Draco countered, "You do know, you just won't say. And you're not a hypocrite." Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but Draco shook his head and spoke over her,
"You enforce the rules, because you know the rules are there to keep people safe. You tell people to follow the rules to keep them safe. Every rule you broke, you only did so to keep everyone safe because, for some unknown reason you and your boys knew more than the teachers, and if you didn't break the rules, chances were someone was going to suffer for it. Secondly, you were fighting against a pureblood supremacist, who wasn't even a pureblood, just a delusional psychopath. You were fighting against persecution based on blood. You are better than Richard: you are a decent human being and he is a sleaze, who does not treat you with the respect you deserve. You have a title, he does not, and unfortunately, when you're in the upper class societies, titles, and old families matter more than new money. That's just the way it is, but you're not rounding up his kind and leading them to slaughter, you're just trying to get out of an arranged marriage." Draco said calmly.
He took a breath, and stepped in toward Hermione so that their bodies were almost touching and they could each feel the heat radiating of the other. "And I will tell you now, what I told you at New Years. Richard tells you he wants to marry you, that he wants to make it work, but then goes and shags that whore whom you call a friend. But you? You have never given him any false promises. You smile and play a part when you have to, but you never tell him a lie when it comes to wanting to marry him. Do you?" Draco asked, and Hermione shook her head.
Draco smiled, "You're trying desperately to get out of this arranged marriage. Why shouldn't you look for happiness elsewhere?"
Hermione didn't dare speak, her breathing increased, what exactly was he saying?
"You don't have to say the things you think you shouldn't say," Draco said to her, "Not if you don't want to. But for Salazar's sake, don't avoid me any more." He whispered feelingly, before finally pulling her to him and crushing his lips to her.
A/N: So, there it is. As always, let me know what you thought, good or bad, leave a review :)
Thanks again, to everyone who has read, reviewed, and to everyone who has added me to their alerts and favourites. You guys are all great :)
I'll get working on the next chapter asap, but once again I'm about to move to yet another state - I'm really turning into a nomad lol so the next couple of weeks are going to be a bit hectic, and packing boxes is about to take over my life. But I will try an get another chapter out before I move :)
xBx