Thank you;
WisperMoon1999
cutiepiehp
SaruDM
mihika
CinziaTwut
DesereaFlare - who is the 200th reviewer! Thank you !
You'll Makes NO Sense - thanks for the editing. Though I wish you would have logged in and sent the review. I would have been able to personally reply back via PM.
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Wow! This story has touched 200! I thank every reviewer for getting me here!
There was a delay in the posting of this chapter but I had an 8 hour long exam and the prep etc left me quite exhausted.
But I'm done and first thing after dinner I'm finishing this chapter so I can put it up ASAP!
Happy reading!
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CHAPTER 27.
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HERMIONES'S POV :
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"Enlighten me again as to why we have returned to this store Draco." I sighed, defeated.
We had come to the home furnishings store again and I had just finished a very long emergency shift and was in no mood to shop with Draco.
The man was a wizard for Godric's sake! Why he wouldn't just conjure what he needed was beyond me.
Playing Quidditch apparently paid him with more money than he could spend.
And poor me. I was the victim who had to accompany him.
Draco even had a privileged customer point's card for this store! He seemed to be taking his rented flat very seriously. I wonder if he wants to buy it.
"Draco!" I called out again, irritated to find him engrossed in a catalogue that showed God only knows what.
"Sodding housewife he's become." I muttered under my breath and dragged my tired feet towards him and the over enthusiastic salesman who thought it was imperative to gesticulate his every word.
"Draco!" I whined like a kid, very tempted to stomp my feet. "Let's go-o-o-o."
"One moment Hermione. I'm looking at a fantastic piece of lampshade here. The bulb changes colours too, look!" Draco said excitedly.
I gave him a semi weirded out, semi disgusted look that screamed 'you're a wizard! Muggle colour changing lampshades shouldn't be a cause for excitement.'
But Draco refused to even acknowledge whether I was looking or not and he got busy with the catalogue again.
I rolled my eyes. This was going to prove difficult. I couldn't even disapparate in a jiffy since we were surrounded by muggles.
I really really wanted to pull Draco by his gorgeous shampoo commercial worthy platinum blond hair and drag him home.
Hmmm.
His hair was the same ever since I could remember. Only the length had increased slightly, giving it volume and he had this shock of hair that covered his forehead and sometimes fell on his eyes if he wasn't careful.
Like right now. I bet he was eyeing the catalogue with only his left eye since the right one was partially covered by his hair and he was too engrossed to move it.
I had an inexplicable urge to reach out and clear his line of vision and maybe check out the texture of his hair.
I could almost imagine how it would feel. I think my fingers had committed it to memory. But they were itching to feel them again.
I could envisage his irritated look after I had played with his hair and it was standing in all possible directions.
He would run his own fingers through it like a comb and one pat down and it all would fall in the same smooth way that it had always been.
Sigh. I envied him. I wish my hair would be so obedient.
Suddenly, I found myself in front of Draco, with my hand raised and in front of his face.
This got his attention and he looked at me quizzically.
The salesman gulped and paled, probably thinking I was about to slap Draco.
I jolted from my reverie and looked at my outstretched hand, feeling extremely foolish.
Very very foolish.
Stupid Hermione.
That's why I should stop talking to myself in my mind.
I quickly brushed a lock of his hair as if there was some dust stuck on it and I was doing him a service by shaking it off.
But in that one nanosecond that my fingers came in contact with his hair, I had to harness all my self control towards letting go and bringing my hand back to myself.
"Some lint out there. Probably from the cloth all around." I explained lamely.
"Oh. Thanks!" He smiled warmly and continued turning the pages, this time involving me and showing me 3 different lamps between which he was confused.
I tuned out his chatter and immediately regretted it.
A mental bulldozer went over me as I realized the train of thoughts that had just passed through my head.
I had spent a good 5 minutes thinking about his hair! Merlin!
And if that was not enough, I had fantasized about running my fingers through it!
I blame it all on the exhaustion.
And the fatigue.
And my tiredness.
Also my lethargy.
Yeah. I could use every word generated by the thesaurus but still the guilt or rather the mystery behind my not so very appropriate thoughts would still remain unsolved.
How could you? It's preposterous. I argued with myself.
I was just being appreciative. I retaliated.
Oh Yeah? Even words can show appreciation. No need to want to get all touchy feely, another voice said.
Why not? Not like I haven't done it before.
Yes, but times were different then. Maybe after a point even the intentions were different.
I agreed to that point.
Was it happening all over again? Or was this just a phase?
It had all been in the past so long ago that it was almost as if it never existed. But it had. It very much had.
Even though sometimes I had to convince myself that it had been real. But today I felt it resurface again.
Did that mean it had never disappeared?
I was so confused. And tired.
I had been seeing him day in day out for a month now. He was the only company I had outside of the hospital.
It was only natural to start thinking this way, wasn't it?
I blame it on the proximity.
And the tiredness, let's not forget.
If I was coherent, I'd probably be feeling a lot different.
But I doubted that.
Old habits die hard.
And Draco Malfoy hadn't been a habit.
At one time, he had been an addiction.
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GENERAL POV:
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Hermione had completely stopped her whining and was standing in the same position with a shocked look on her face.
The thoughts that were swimming in her head were enough to make her go insane.
She desperately wanted to stop analysing and over thinking but it wasn't helping.
To add to that Draco was ignoring her. Well not really ignoring, but he was busy comparing lamps and she really needed him to talk his usual rubbish to her to distract her from her thoughts.
Where is his incessant appetite for conversation when you need it? She thought ruefully.
Suddenly fingers snapped in front of her. "Hermione? Hello? Earth to!" Draco was calling out.
"Huh? What's it you were saying?" Hermione asked, looking attentive now.
"I'm saying that you need to get lamps for your flat too. It's always so dark and dreary at night. I think these twin shades by the coffee table will do. What do you say?" Draco asked.
"Hmm? Yeah. Maybe. Its fine I guess." Hermione mumbled.
"Aren't you going to argue about how you don't need any lamps?" Draco asked looking surprised that she had agreed so soon.
Hermione sighed loudly. "Is it going to matter? You're going to do exactly what you want. I may as well save my fast depleting energy and agree now."
Draco grinned. "Fast learner." He said.
Hermione didn't even bother to comment.
"Okay. Since you're in such an agreeable mood today, I think we should go a step further. Let's go check something for that's second bedroom of yours." Draco said nonchalantly.
"What? Why? I use only my bedroom. Why would I want to do up the spare one?" Hermione asked, waking up a little.
"For guests." Draco said simply as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.
"Guests?" Hermione scoffed. "You're my only 'guest' and thankfully you have your own flat. I'm not wasting time and money for a room that's not even functional."
"Who said it's going be non functional? Your visitors will use it. And don't you want to be a good host and set them up in a nicely done up room?" Draco asked.
"Why am I having visitors?" Hermione asked feebly. "And pray tell, who are these secret visitors and guests?"
"Why, Potter and Weaselette of course!" Draco said with an air of obviousness.
Hermione gaped. Actually gaped.
"Jaw up Granger. Don't look at me like I've just said something scandalous." Draco smirked.
"You ... You ... Insufferable prat. Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you insinuate something that I haven't even thought about till now let alone go ahead and make plans for it?" Hermione yelled.
Draco rolled his eyes. "And here I thought you were being agreeable."
"Don't roll your eyes at me Malfoy." Hermione hollered, all lethargy forgotten.
Merlin! That woman had some super feisty fighting gene that was always on alert.
"I'm only suggesting Hermione. In case you wake up one day and feel that you really want to see them, then what?" Draco asked.
"Then I will bloody conjure a bed and all that's required." Hermione whispered furiously even though the over enthusiastic salesman had hurriedly retreated to his desk when Hermione and Draco had started arguing.
How could one go from almost endearing to so infuriating in such a short time? Hermione found herself chastising herself for even thinking for a moment how carefree and innocent and adorable? He looked a while ago.
"Hmmm. So you admit that you wouldn't mind them visiting?" Draco said with a lopsided half smile.
"What? How did you conclude that?" Hermione asked, taken aback.
"Well, you didn't oppose my suggestion. You could have said that I won't want them to come or something like that. But instead you came up with an alternative to their living arrangements." Draco explained. "Shows you're open to the idea."
Hermione gave him an 'I can't believe you' look that held his gaze stubbornly for a while.
She sighed loudly after a minute."I'm tired Draco. Please. Not now. Can we just pack those damn lamps and get going?" Hermione pleaded.
Draco nodded, not pressing further, knowing that he had somewhat succeeded in trying to get her to meet the Potters'.
Hermione wanted to seethe but she couldn't.
Maybe it was the exhaustion or the lack of will.
Or maybe it was the fact that lately she had been missing Harry and Ginny a lot more. She had also been re-reading a few of Ginny's letters.
Maybe Draco had noticed this and that's how he had come to the consensus that she should meet them.
She had met her parents. And honestly it had not been that bad. In fact, it was great.
They had spoken once more on the telephone in the week after she had gone to see them. And she had felt good catching up with them.
They were giving her the space she needed and she was reaching out to them within her comfort zone.
Maybe it was time for the next step.
Harry would either way know that Hermione had visited the Grangers'. He checked up on them often.
And Hermione had not said anything to them about lying to Harry.
She knew that if even he knew exactly where she was at this point, he wouldn't ever come unless she asked him to. Only to allow her her space.
But the moment she called him, there was no doubt that he would leave everything and rush to her.
A longing stirred deep within her. One that comes from wanting something you haven't had for long.
And she wanted her best friends back.
All of them.
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Yeah!
Umm. That's it for today!
Please tell!
How was the Hermione pov? More on that later!
And Harry and Ginny in the picture again!
I love them!
Hope you liked!
Thanks for reading!
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