Assignment 10: Sometimes people think hiding the truth is better for their partner, whilst others hide things for purely selfish reasons. Whatever the reason behind the deceit, someone in your pairing must be deceitful. It could be simple, it could be relationship changing, but deceit must be the main aspect of your relationship. Prompt - (Object) Wardrobe

-oOo-

Hermione noticed the way Draco didn't really look at her when they went to bed. He climbed in, rolled his back to her and went to sleep. At first she just summed it up to end of the year stress. With so many exams and papers to grade, they both had gone to bed exhausted. But the school year had ended two weeks ago and he still barely looked at her.

"He's hiding something," Ginny whispered, popping a biscuit into her mouth. The others in the room nodded. "You need to confront him. Find out what."

Hermione didn't want to believe that. She had no reason to think he would lie to her. She didn't even know what he would lie about. "I'm sure it's nothing. He's probably just stressed about something. He'll tell me what's bothering him when he's able to."

Pansy snickered from across the room. She pulled out another batch of oatmeal and raisin biscuits, turning the over off and casting a cooling charm. She grabbed her wine glass, and turned back to the girl's at the table.

"I know Draco," Pansy spoke, joining the group at the kitchen table. "Whatever's on his mind, he is not going to tell you. He'll keep lying about it until it builds up and blows up in his face. Trust me on this."

"Pansy is right," Daphne added. "It's what he does. When did he start acting weird?"

Hermione thought for a second, staring down at her wine collar. Alcohol hadn't been planned during this get together, but Pansy's house always had some and she apparently needed it. "The teacher's conference a few weeks ago. McGonagall had asked him to attend so Hogwarts would have a spokesperson for the exchange program again this year. He was gone for the whole weekend- Friday night to Sunday night. He came back and hasn't really said anything. I asked him, but he won't tell me what happened."

Pansy and Daphne exchanged a look. The other two at the table glared at them, expecting an answer to those faces.

"What are you thinking? He cheated on her?" Ginny asked.

"He wouldn't do that," Hermione protested. "Draco's not-"

"I know you love him," Pansy spoke, reaching out to take Hermione's hand, "and he loved you, but he never told you the reason he and I broke up our sixth year, right?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes.

"I slept with him." Daphne spoke, her focus on swirling the wine in her glass. "Slept with him a few times while he was still with Pansy."

Pansy spoke up, "it wasn't like I was completely innocent either. We'd all been under some serious stress, and I was sleeping with Theo so there's that. But as great as Draco is, he's still a guy and…"

"No." Hermione cut her off. "That isn't what this is about. He didn't… I would know if he did."

Pansy only shrugged, waving her wand to bring the fresh batch of cookies to the table. Hermione grabbed one, breaking it in half and refusing to look at the graduated Slytherin's at the table. She had known that Draco had been in a relationship with both of them in the past and she wasn't one to judge. She just hadn't known those details. She cared for both the girl's at the table and it didn't matter. Besides, she had had her fair share of men in bed.

But she couldn't get their words out of her mind. Clearly Pansy and Daphne had worked through their issues concerning Draco, and Hermione just hoped they were jumping to conclusion. But the avoiding her. The forced smiles. The reluctance to talk about the weekend. The holes in his story. Hermione downed her glass of wine, hoping that this was all just a misunderstanding. She didn't want to think that this could be the truth behind his lies.

When she returned home it was late. Draco was sitting on the couch, book in hand. He looked up when she entered. Something flashed behind his grey eyes before dimming. Huffing, Hermione walked past him, slipping her jacket off her shoulder. She didn't look at him, unwilling to even consider the possibilities.

Entering into the bedroom, she slammed the door shut and threw her jacket onto the bed. Her hands running through her hair, she glared at the picture of the two of them on the nightstand.

Draco entered the room, moving past her to drop the book on his side of the bed. He was already dressed in a pair of sweats and sweater for the night. "Did you have fun?"

"It was alright," Hermione spoke. She grabbed her jacket, and moved to open the wardrobe on the other side of the room. Throwing the doors open, she hung her jacket and sorted through for something to sleep in.

"If I did something wrong, just tell me." Draco's voice had an edge to it that made Hermione dig her nails into the sweater.

She rounded on him, breathing deeply. "Why are you lying to me?"

Sitting on the bed, Draco frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Do not lie to me, Draco. I love you. I really do. But what happened that weekend?"

Draco rolled his eyes, looking away from her as he bit his lip in frustration. "I told you, nothing happened. Can't you just trust me?"

"I do. But it's kind of hard when you're clearly lying and hiding something?"

"What am I hiding, hum? What could I possibly be lying about?"

"Did you sleep with someone?" She hadn't meant the words to come out that way, but she was getting frustrated.

"Why would you even think that? Do you really think I would do something like that? Do you think I'm capable of doing that? Of cheating on you?"
"You did it to Pansy." Silence followed in which Hermione wished she'd taken the words back.

Draco glared at her with a ferocity that she hadn't seen in years. The last time he'd looked at her like that, he'd been blaming Harry for his father going to prison. Rising off the bed, he didn't bother looking at her as he walked past and slammed the door to the adjacent bathroom closed.

Hermione stood there, hands holding onto the door of the wardrobe. She couldn't believe herself. How could she say that? Growling at herself, she pulled out a pair of shorts and an oversized sweater and changed quickly. Dropping her dirty clothes into the hamper, she shut the wardrobe door.

Draco was standing next to her. There was such a look of hurt on his face.

"I'm sorry-" she started.

"I didn't cheat on you, Granger." Draco spoke softly, his eyes directed onto her. "But… It's not fair for me to keep what happened from you. While at the conference I ran into an old friend. Sansa Whiteman. She was a year below us, in Slytherin. She works as Forsyth, one of the wizarding primary schools over in America. She was attending the conference. I hadn't seen her in since Hogwarts and we went out to a bar to catch up."

Hermione dug her hands into the pocket at the front of her sweater and simply listened.

"We may have underestimated our tolerance and had one too many. I woke up the next morning in her hotel room. In bed. With her."

"I thought you said you didn't?"

"I said I didn't cheat on you. And I didn't. When I woke up, I thought I did. I was so scared. So ashamed of what I thought might have happened. I didn't remember the night before and I thought that I might have done something terrible. And it killed me. I love you, Hermione. I would never do anything to hurt you like that. When I woke up, I darted from the place. I came back home that afternoon. Didn't confront her beforehand."

Hermione's shoulder's sunk. "Then what happened? If you didn't… why were you in bed with her?"

Draco ran his hands through his hair, frowning. "I managed to get a hold of her a week later. She was hard to track down. But she filled me in on what happened. We'd apparently drunk a bit too much. Ended up on a bar run with a few of her friends. Somehow ended up in a fountain. I didn't really get the details on that. But I was a little too drunk, and soaked and didn't remember where my hotel was. I'd lost the hotel key somewhere through the night – again, details I still don't have quite down. She offered to let me crash at her room while I sobered up. We shared the bed. We didn't do anything other than sleep."

"Then why keep this from me?" Hermione stepped towards him. "You went to sleep next to a friend. I've spent the night using Ron or Harry's bed before. Nothing happened. So why lie? Why not just tell me?"

Draco reached out, taking her hand and running his thumb against her skin. "What I did to Pansy whenever me and Daphne… I hurt her. She's my oldest friend and in that moment I hadn't cared. I'd been selfish. I almost lost two near and dear friends because of it. When I woke up next to Sansa, I felt like that again. I felt like that selfish and ignorant kid again and I was terrified I had hurt you the same way I had hurt them. I was terrified that I would lose you.

"By time I got the whole story, it didn't make me feel better. The fact that I was in such a position in the first place was enough for me to keep quiet. The possibility that you would hate me made me hate myself all over again. The longer time past, the more frustrated you got with me and my reluctance to answer your questions, I just worried that when you heard what happened, you'd be done with me. And I love you, Hermione Granger. I love you like I have never loved anyone before and I am so sorry."

There was silence for a minute as Hermione looked at him. Sitting next to him on the bed, she smiled. "Next time, just tell me. You didn't go off sleeping with someone. You didn't spend the night snogging someone. You didn't do anything that would warrant my anger. I just wish you would have told me sooner that way you wouldn't have been sitting here beating yourself up and I wouldn't have resorted to going to Pansy for advice."

The two sat there, smiles tight on their lips. It felt better now that the truth was out – even if it had been such an innocent truth in the first place.