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CHAPTER 28.
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"That was delicious Draco. You really should let me cook from now on. I eat entirely too much when you cook." Hermione said with great difficulty in between shallow breaths.
"Please. We all know about your schedule. If meals were left up to you, we would be having only eggs." Draco scoffed.
"At least I would not be a glutton. I can hardly breathe." Hermione said as she leaned in and snuggled next to Draco.
Draco shuffled his body to accommodate her and re-arranged the blanket so her toes would be covered.
"It'll pass. Relax." He said wisely.
"I've never come up here. It's beautiful." Hermione said softly, trying not to cause any abdominal movement.
"You've lived here for more than a year and you're telling me that you never checked out the roof of one of the tallest buildings in the area?" Draco asked, astonished.
Hermione shook her head.
"It's the next best thing to Quidditch. Since I can't fly, being somewhere high is a close second." Draco said.
Hermione shifted her face so that she could see him now.
He still looked the same as she had remembered. Well, almost the same. His hair was longer and his eyes had laugh lines.
Something that was nonexistent in school. He had always had pale smooth complexion and not one blemish nor wrinkle.
Except in the 6th year when he was plagued by the task of killing Dumbledore.
But his face had assumed a more natural, human like quality now and he had a 2 day stubble.
Hermione wondered how he had controlled himself from shaving. He usually preferred to be completely clean shaven.
So many things about him had changed since she had seen him last. But still he was innately so Draco.
All the same and yet different. For the better.
Without thinking she rubbed her thumb tentatively along his chin feeling the growth of hair under her skin.
It didn't change his appearance much, just gave him a rugged look.
And Merlin knows that pale white Draco Malfoy could do with looking a bit rugged.
"Hermione? Is something there on my chin?" Draco asked softly.
"Hmmm?" She mused, her hand still in place.
"My chin?" He repeated.
She turned her eyes to look at him directly and instantly his intense mercury silver eyes hit her with silent questions.
Eyes that had stood out to be cold and insulting at one time were so warm and safe right now.
She could see herself in them and nothing like the usual drowning in someone's eyes happened to her. But she did manage to see layers and layers of their life in them.
Often in the past when his lips were saying something, his eyes had always spoken the truth.
With Draco, she had long ago learned that he many times said things he didn't mean. And to read between the lines or to actually decipher what really went on in his head, all she had to do was to see his eyes.
Just like she was doing now.
And what she saw was hope. Patience. Affection. Serenity. And contentedness.
Her heart swelled with love for him. All he had done for the entirety of his break was to follow her and make sure she was living her life and not wasting it away.
He was almost babysitting her and had yet not shown any impatience or irritation. And Merlin knows she had been difficult at times.
But he was as stubborn as her if not more and he wouldn't ever back down.
Inspite of doing this everyday he still managed to be so peaceful and content.
As if sitting on a blanket snuggled next to her was everything he had ever wanted.
"Hermione?" Draco asked again.
She heard him and tore herself away from his eyes. "I was noticing your stubble. Since when did you start keeping stubbles?"
"Oh that?" Draco relaxed. "I just got lazy."
"Lazy? Malfoy all you have to do is wake up late, have the coffee I've made and roam around the city till I meet up with you. Surely you have enough time to shave?"
"Yeah I know. Stop lecturing. Let's say I'm trying out a new look." Draco said.
Hermione rolled her eyes and dropped her head on his shoulder and snaked her arm through his.
She heard him breathe a long sigh of contentment.
It had been really long since they had spent quality time with each other. The last being before her wedding.
She had missed him. A lot. She knew he had to go. She had made peace with it too.
But sitting here with him she realised just how much she had missed him. And she was glad to have him back.
She was really content right now in the present next to him. And his body language suggested the same thing.
It was just like old times. Before it got all messed up in between.
"What are you thinking?" Draco asked suddenly. "You're awfully quiet."
She stopped mid thought and started thinking of an answer. She didn't really want to tell him what she was thinking.
It would probably just open a can of worms, though she doubted it. Draco was never the one for confrontations. But she didn't want to risk it yet. The moment was too serene to be disrupted.
She wasn't sure of what the thoughts meant to her itself so she did what she had done in the past, pushed it behind and kept it there.
"I think it's a good look. Brings some colour to your ashen face." She said.
"I do not have an ashen face." Draco said indignantly.
"See?" Hermione sighed. "I just complimented you on your stubble and all you could register was ashen face. No value for compliments."
"Oh... Uh... Hermione! You know how I hate to be so pale. It's a blasted Malfoy gene thing. You know it's a touchy subject for me." Draco insisted.
Hermione laughed. "You are so vain Drums!"
Draco immediately stopped laughing and looked at her intently.
She too stopped laughing as soon as the words left her mouth.
"You know, you've not called me that in years." Draco breathed.
"I know." She said equally softly.
"I hated that nick name." He laughed nervously. "But it sounded so good when you used to say it."
Hermione smiled slightly. "I used to think Draco or Malfoy was so overused. I had to come up with my own name for you. Something only I could call you."
"Yeah. And what you come up with? Drums! Ridiculous really!" Draco said.
"Oh admit it. You loved it." Hermione said airily.
"I did." Draco relented. "Because you came up with it. How could I not like it? You poured every emotion you had into calling me that. It sounded so nice when you would call me that."
Hermione smiled. "I knew you secretly loved It."
"How come you called me that suddenly? After so long?" Draco asked.
"I don't know. You know when I get carried away I call you Drums." Hermione said.
"I love it." Draco repeated feelingly.
"You better." She said.
Draco snaked his free arm around her waist to pull her closer. "I loved the possessiveness you displayed though. Only you were allowed to call me that remember?"
"Who else would call you by that name? No one knew we were friends let alone on nick name basis." Hermione said.
"Remember when Pansy read a note you had written for me once and you called me Drums? She went on about how cute it was and took it on herself to call me that too." Draco said disgusted. "It's a good thing you had not signed that note. Explaining to Pansy why Hermione Granger was writing to me would have been tiring."
Hermione laughed. "Yeah. You cringed every time she called you that."
"Yeah but you got so angry every time she preened 'Drums'. You almost wanted to punch her nose too." Draco said.
"I know. She infuriated me to no end. Had gotten herself declared your girlfriend." Hermione seethed.
"Oi! Relax. I fake broke up with her remember? And also revoked her name calling rights." Draco said.
"Thank Merlin. I swear I would have hexed her otherwise." Hermione said.
"That would have been just precious." Draco laughed.
They sat there snuggled up and warm and laughed heartily for some more time over Hogwarts memories.
Their laughter died out after a while and they continued to sit silently in each other's presence, not needing to articulate.
Hermione had been alone for so long and this new closeness was refreshing. She would have never admitted that earlier but now that Draco was here, she was glad.
After a few minutes she spoke again.
"Weren't you supposed to join the team again today?" She asked.
"Yes." He said.
"Then? Why are you still here?" Hermione queried.
"I'm not leaving Hermione. Not till I want to. Which might be never. I love Australia." He said.
"Draco ..."
"What Hermione? I've just got you back. Merlin knows those 3 years without you were nothing like the last month has been."
"But Draco this is your career we are talking about. Your vacation is over. And you can always visit."
"No. I don't feel like. I've just taken an extension on my leave. It's no big deal really. I almost have 2 years leave pending. I never took days off often." Draco said.
"You don't have to stop your life because of me Draco, I'm fine. Much better now since you've been here." She tried to reason with him.
"I'm not only doing this for you Hermione. It's more for me. I know you're better. But I'm not. Not knowing where you were for so long hasn't been easy. Now that I do, I can't let go so soon. Anyway I'll hardly be able to pay attention on the game with all my thoughts on you. Let me be with you for a while longer." He said.
Hermione found her eyes moistening.
He knew that she hated being treated like a project. But she was surprised to hear that he needed to be here for his own sake more than for her's. Which really warmed her heart.
She decided then that she wouldn't force him or bother him about his extended leave.
If he wanted to spend his time here he could.
And truth be told she was dreading his departure. That coupled with missing Harry and Ginny had made her very emotional in the past few days.
Now that she had established the contact, going back to her old life would be very difficult.
"I've missed you Draco. And I'm really glad that you're here now." She said hugging him close.
"You have no idea." He said under his breath as he hugged her back.
"You know what?" She asked.
"Hmmm?"
"I think I want to meet Harry. Ginny as well." She said nervously.
Draco took her by the shoulders and there was an unmistakable excitement in his eyes. "Really?"
She nodded slowly.
He laughed. "I never thought I'd ever be so excited at the prospect of you meeting Potter. And this is all your fault Granger."
Hermione laughed. "You better behave yourself in front of them."
"I'm always well behaved." He scoffed. "It's him you need to tell."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Look if you don't give me your word I won't call them."
"No. Fine. Okay. You have my word." He scowled.
"Good." She said satisfied. "I believe we have a room to furnish."
Draco grinned. "We do!"
"Are you sure they'll come?" Hermione asked nervously.
"Are you mad? They'll be ready on one foot to come. I bet they won't be able to even wait for international apparition permit. But he's Harry Potter. I bet he can pull a few strings and speed up the process." Draco said.
She bit her lip. "I hope so. I think I'll write them first and tell them."
"Yeah. That's a plan." Draco said.
His enthusiasm started rubbing off on her and she found herself oddly light and welcoming of this new decision.
The more she discussed this with Draco, the more she realized how much she was actually looking forward to meeting her old friends.
She rested her head on his shoulder again. "Thank you." She told him.
"What for?" He inquired.
"For never giving up."
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Harry Potter stood in the middle of his kitchen with a letter in his hand.
'Harry and Ginny Potter' was written over it in neat, familiar writing.
He just stood there staring at it as if trying to make sure he really was holding it.
"Did you get...?" Ginny stopped midway when she saw her husband pointlessly standing.
"Oh for Godric's sake Harry, what are you doing? I send you to get me one piece of chocolate and..."
Harry looked up at his wife.
"What's wrong Harry?" Ginny asked sounding worried.
He extended his arm as she took the letter from him.
Dearest Harry and Ginny,
I'm truly sorry for not replying to your last letter. I got so busy and frankly I'm new at replying.
But I think this letter will pretty much make up for it.
I'm not going to ask how you are doing or tell you how I'm doing because I have something better in mind.
Of course I'm getting ahead of myself and assuming that the both of you will go along with it. I'm hoping you will.
I know it's too much to ask since Harry would be busy with his job and Ginny is pregnant, but luckily she can still travel up until the 7th month so shouldn't be a problem for her.
I've started to ramble, have I not?
Oh dear. I'll get to the point.
What I'm saying is, would you like to come visit me?
I would love to meet you.
I really miss you both and I want to see you.
It would be a great way of spending Ron's birthday.
He would have liked us to be together and ... happy.
I can understand if you are angry with me or would not want to come, but it would mean a lot to me if you did.
I'm not ready yet to come back and it would truly be wonderful if you came here.
Irrespective of your answer, I'm sending another note which has my address on it.
If you can come, write back and we can work out the details.
I believe I have a lot of leave pending. We need to spend some time together.
Awaiting your arrival.
Love,
Hermione.
Ginny finished the letter and joined Harry in the stance that she had found him in.
Both of them didn't speak anything for a few moments.
Ginny broke the silence first. "She... She's ... Harry... She's called us. Says she wants to meet."
"I was there when you read the letter Gin." Harry said.
"Can you believe this?" Ginny breathed.
Harry was shaking his head, his eyes blinking furiously to keep away any evidence of emotion.
"We are going right?" She asked cautiously.
"I still can't believe it. Ginny, she's called us. Do you know what this means?" Harry asked.
"Of course I bloody know what this means Harry. It's the moment we were waiting for. She finally wants to meet us. She's ready Harry." Ginny exclaimed hysterically.
"I still can't believe it." Harry stated looking as dazed as ever.
"You better believe it soon, love." Ginny said, snapping out of it. "Because I refuse to let the international permits delay our trip. When should I tell her we will be coming?"
"Um. I think a day will be required for the permit and I want to go see your Healer before we take the trip. No way, don't even try to get out of it Gin, I need to make sure which is the best form of transport in your condition." Harry said in a no arguments tone before Ginny could even protest.
"Fine." She huffed. "I'm going to owl Healer Jenson for an appointment and you go get the permits. I think the day after tomorrow should be fine. We can be together on Ron's birthday that way too."
"Right. I'll see you soon love." Harry kissed his wife's forehead affectionately. "Do try to contain your excitement."
"I'm trying to get out the shock." Ginny replied honestly. "First she starts responding to letters and now this. I'm so relieved. I don't know what has changed in her life but it's such a welcome one and she deserves to be happy."
"She does. And she will be. We'll make sure of it." Harry said seriously and left.
Ginny re-read the letter again and couldn't resist doing a mini jig in her kitchen.
She clutched the letter to her chest and allowed a few tears of joy to run across her cheeks before she went to fetch some parchment and a quill to reply back.
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"Draco? Draco? Malfoy?" She used his last name when he refused to emerge from his room.
"Where is he when you need him?" She muttered under her breath.
She checked the kitchen first, because that was one of his favourite places. But it was spick and span as if he hadn't even been there today.
The living room had been empty and so was his room.
"Where could he have gone?" She mused. "We were supposed to meet in 30 minutes; I wonder why he's not here."
Still thinking about the currently incognito Draco, she mindlessly pushed open the bathroom door just like she had pushed the kitchen door and the bedroom door.
"What the... Blimey Hermione! What do you...? Oh heck... A little warning perhaps?" Draco's voice strained.
"Oh Draco ... My ... I'm so ... I was ... Kitchen... Right. I'll leave you .. I'm .. Just sorry." She babbled with her eyes lowered, her face red with all the pooled blood that had graced the dilated vessels under her skin.
She hastily slipped out of his room and used the front door to get out of his flat. She reached the door of her flat and remembered she didn't have her keys.
She had apparated into Draco's flat but now that she was positively flushed and flustered, she wondered whether she would be able to concentrate enough to apparate without splinching herself or reaching some other place.
Draco's surprised face kept coming in front of her eyes and the change in his expression from surprise to amusement when he had witnessed her discomfort was not lost on her.
"Oh God." She croaked as she slid her behind against her wooden door and sat down on the carpeted hallway to gather her wits.
"Any other person would be mortified if someone walked in on them in the bathroom and saw their butt." She thought. "But he's going to so enjoy teasing me about it."
She groaned again. She cursed herself for just opening the bathroom door without calling out.
But why she even felt the need to open his door was beyond her. It's obvious that 99 times out of 100 if a person is in the bathroom they would be in various levels of indecency.
That's why it's private for a reason. And she had gone and just barged in expecting to find him in there.
Oh he was. In there. Stepping out of the shower with his towel wiping his face which had been away from Hermione's view.
As soon as he heard the door open, instinctively he wrapped the towel in any way he could but not before his behind had left lasting impressions in her mind.
"Yes that's what he'll do. He'll tease you mercilessly and you will feel so embarrassed that you're going to hide or apologise for the rest of your life." She said to herself. "But he must be embarrassed too. After all it was his modesty at display, not mine."
"Hmm. I bet he's embarrassed. But he'll tease me to cover it up." She went on thinking. "If I pretend to be casual about it probably he'll leave it at that."
This logic seemed to calm her frayed nerves and she took deep breaths before she apparated back into her flat.
She made herself a cup of cardamom tea to clear the thoughts (and pictures) going through her head.
Damn!
Trying very hard to ignore the backside view of his very well sculpted torso (yeah, she hadn't noticed it closely until now) she poured her tea into her cup.
His back is even paler than his face. She thought.
"Ouch." She yelped as the hot tea burned her tongue. "That's what you get for thinking things you're not supposed to Hermione. You deserve it."
She scowled and wished that someone could just obliviate the memory from her head.
It was causing more problems than it should.
Maybe it would get better. Things like this happen don't they? She had seen plenty of naked men during her training. So it's not like it was the first time or anything.
That's Those men were her patients. He was her friend. And that really complicated things.
"Merlin!" She said. "I better get a grip before he comes."
As if on cue, he popped into her living room now dressed (fully, may I add) in jeans and a dark purple t-shirt, his hair slightly wet and shaken haphazardly.
He had probably not even run a comb through it and it looked so good already.
Criminal. It was criminal to have such sexy hair.
Sexy! ?
Hermione Granger ! You did not just call him sexy! She berated herself.
Oh who am I kidding? She sighed. He is sexy. Always has been.
"Hmmm. Hasn't anyone taught you to knock before entering Granger?" Draco said in an amused tone.
Hermione blushed again but she refused to fall prey to his tactic of embarrassing herself.
"Hasn't anyone taught you to lock your door while using the bathroom Malfoy?" She retorted back in a voice that sounded way bolder than she felt.
Draco assumed a surprised but yet amused and impressed look in his expression.
He had not expected Hermione to retaliate back.
Usually she was feisty in her arguments but things like these embarrassed her too much.
"Hmmm. Fair enough I suppose." He smirked. "But what was so bloody important that you had to come barging into the bathroom without stopping to knock?"
Hermione suddenly beamed. She had almost forgotten in all this her reason for being so excited.
"Oh Draco I just got Ginny's letter. She's losing it out there. She's practically packed and now they are waiting for their permit. They should be here by the day after tomorrow." Hermione gushed.
Draco smiled at her childlike excitement.
Yes. Hermione Granger was definitely back!
"That's great. For you I mean." He said. "I can't say I'll be glad to meet him."
Hermione scowled. "Draco ..." She warned.
"Yes yes I remember. I'll behave." He said before she could say anything.
"Good." She stated pompously.
"So" He said waggling his eyebrows maniacally. "Liked what you saw?"
Hermione flushed deeply and found herself at a loss of words again. And that in itself was a shocking thing for Hermione Granger.
"You ... I... "She flustered."Get out. Just get out."
He just laughed, satisfied by her reaction, he sprawled himself on the couch and helped himself to Hermione's tea while she stood there fuming at him.
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