'Do you reckon Hermione is all right?' Ron asked Harry worriedly.
They were sitting in the canteen waiting for Hermione to join them for a late lunch. She was currently running five minutes late.
Harry shrugged. 'I think so. I think she's just shaken by what happened with that Michael. It's not really a surprise that it's taking her a little while to get over it, considering what he did to her.'
Ron looked thoughtful. 'Maybe . . . I suppose you're right. She seemed rather eager to leave her flat, though . . . considering the bloke's in prison, I mean.'
'Yeah, that is a bit odd,' Harry agreed. 'Although I suppose she associates it with him or something.'
'But why would she do that? She said he never went to the flat,' Ron said.
'I dunno, why do women do anything?' Harry asked wearily. 'She told you she was scared, didn't she?'
'Yeah — panic attacks and stuff, apparently.' Ron looked down at his cup of tea and used his spoon to squeeze and remove the teabag. 'Still, it will probably do her good to move. Hopefully, it'll be a whole new start for her and she can forget about that creep for a while.'
'Have you heard anything about when the trial's going to be?' Harry asked curiously. He added two packets of sugar to his coffee and stirred it vigorously.
'No, not yet. I spoke to Hawkins in the Wizengamot Administration Services while I was down there this morning. He said that as far as he'd heard they hadn't even managed to properly interview him yet. Every time they try to talk to him all he does is ask about Hermione and try to get them to let him see her. He won't answer any of their questions. I think they're considering putting up a charge of insanity for the time being just to make sure he stays locked away.' Ron saw Hermione walking towards them. Warning Harry not to say anything more about Michael in case it upset her, he added quietly, 'Watch out, here comes Hermione.'
'Hey, Hermione, how are you doing?' Ron asked with a smile. 'You're late.'
'I know. I'm sorry,' Hermione said apologetically as she flopped down in the seat next to Harry and opposite Ron. 'I got caught by Lyndon Lufkin and you know how he always goes on.' She rolled her eyes. 'Are you guys going to get something to eat? I'm starving.'
The three of them got up from the table and made their way to the food counter, picking up trays as they went. Once they were all safely back at the table Hermione took the teabag from her cup and took a small sip of the tea before cutting into the omelette she had bought for lunch.
'So I've found a new place,' she told the men, sounding upbeat. 'It's not quite as nice as the old flat but it'll do, and it's in a nice safe area. It's got a security dwarf on the door and they have twenty-four-hour surveillance.'
'That sounds good,' Ron said, shooting Harry a quick look.
'Do you need all that?' Harry asked, looking worriedly at Hermione.
Hermione shrugged. 'Probably not, but at least it'll make me feel safe in the short term and it's better to be safe than sorry.'
'Yeah, I suppose you're right,' Harry agreed dubiously.
'Anyway, I can move in there any time after Thursday, so I was thinking maybe next weekend?' Hermione said hopefully.
'Sounds good,' Ron repeated, nodding his head, his mouth full as he spoke.
Hermione looked at him distastefully for a moment.
'Actually, I've got a really big favour to ask you both,' she said.
'Well, there's a surprise,' Harry responded sounding amused. 'Go on, then, what is it? I know: you want us to help you move. You already know we will, won't we, Ron?'
'Oh yeah,' Ron said. 'We were expecting to do that.'
Hermione looked at them pleadingly. 'Will you pack up my stuff and move it for me while I wait at the new place? I don't really want to go back to the old flat again.'
Harry stared at her. 'Why not?'
'Please, Harry, I just don't want to go back there. I can't explain it, but even thinking about it scares me.' She sounded upset.
Ron put his hand across the table to take Hermione's and he squeezed it soothingly. 'Okay, we'll do it, won't we, Harry?'
Harry stared at Hermione for a moment but then nodded. 'Yeah, of course we will. Are you sure you're okay, Hermione?'
Hermione smiled at him. 'Of course I am. I just really want to be away from the old flat.'
'Don't worry, you'll be all settled in the new place soon,' Ron assured her.
'Thanks . . . both of you,' she said gratefully.
They had all finished eating now and Hermione was looking aimlessly around the canteen. Draco and his team were walking through the room, heading for the coffee stand. Hermione's heart clattered with panic and her stomach flipped at the sight of the gorgeous blond, although she tried hard not to show any difference in her manner outwardly. She grabbed her tray and stood up, desperate to leave before Draco spotted her.
'I really need to get back. I've got a load of stuff to do for Lyndon and I don't want him coming to talk to me again. It always holds me up. I'll see you guys later.'
'Okay. See you tonight,' Harry answered.
'Have a good afternoon. Lyndon's after you,' Ron said with a grin.
Hermione rolled her eyes again, then hurried off to dump her tray as far away from Draco as she could get. She raced for the door, worried every moment that he would see her and call out to her and she would be forced to go back and face him. As she emerged safely into the corridor she took a deep breath, relieved at having managed to escape. Realising that she had stopped and was still potentially within reach, she started walking again, speeding up to hurry back to her office. She was grateful that she hadn't had to talk to Draco as it would have been too painful for her to cope with.
'Hermione's definitely not quite right, is she?' Ron said as they watched their friend hurry away.
Harry shook his head. 'No, you're right — she's not. It's like she's on the edge of hysteria or something. Perhaps we need to try to convince her to see a Healer. Maybe she needs to talk to someone about what she's been through.'
'You could have a word with her about it when you're at home in the evening,' Ron suggested.
'Yeah, thanks, mate,' Harry retorted dryly. 'Perhaps I'll have a word with Ginny about it and she can talk to Hermione. She's less likely to get upset with her because she's pregnant.'
'Good plan,' Ron agreed. He stood up. 'Well, I need to go as well. I'll arrange with you later about moving Hermione's stuff. I thought I might go round there after work and start packing up as she's not going to do it. What do you think?'
'You do that and I'll tackle her mental health,' Harry promised.
'Cool, see you later.' Ron waved as he walked away, leaving Harry sitting alone.
Harry shook his head and sighed, then picked up his tray and dumped it on top of Ron's. He picked the two trays up and carried them to the storage point.
Draco saw Hermione rushing out of the canteen and was fairly certain she was leaving to get away from him. It was almost automatic to call out to her, but as it became clear she was trying to avoid him, he let her go. Maybe if he gave her the space she wanted she would give him another chance eventually. Maybe. It was lovely to see her, though. It was the first time he had seen her since he left her on the day Caro had agreed to the divorce. He stared after Hermione, remembering better times when the two of them had been in bed together — happy and in love.
'Are you okay, boss?' the woman who had been in the dining room at Michael's house asked when she saw his face.
Draco nodded. 'I'm fine, Alice. Just thinking of something outside of work. If only we could work twenty-four hours a day, it would make everything so much easier, eh?'
The woman grimaced. 'I spend more than enough time at this place as it is, especially at the moment with all these extra shifts we're having to pull. No wonder you're drinking double espressos, Bob. You must have been up for, what, almost two days now?'
Bob, the man who had been in Michael's kitchen, shrugged. He looked shattered. 'Yeah, something like that. I get to go home in an hour, though, thank Merlin.' He looked into his coffee cup. 'What's the betting I'm not going to be able to sleep because I've drunk too much of this stuff?' he complained.
Draco chuckled. 'You want to try whisky, Bob. It works for me. I sleep soundly as a baby.'
'Yeah, and then you have a stinking hangover and are really grumpy when you get into work,' Bob pointed out. 'I don't need a hangover and I feel grumpy enough already.'
'Fair point,' Draco conceded. 'Well, I've got another shift after this one, and I heard Yaxley saying that Ogden has gone down with some stomach bug or something, so it looks like I might end up pulling a triple. I'm just glad there aren't any call-outs at the moment or I'd be seriously worried about our effectiveness.'
'Well, don't you overdo it or you'll make yourself ill as well,' Alice said worriedly.
'Yeah, the last thing we need is you going down too, boss,' Bob pointed out.
'Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I'm just looking forward to Friday night. At the moment I'm not scheduled to work at all this weekend and I'm fully expecting to sleep through all of it,' Draco told them gleefully.
Harry was seriously impressed at the amount of packing Ron had managed to get done in the three evenings he had been to Hermione's flat. It certainly made the job a lot easier for them today. He and Ron moved all the furniture first, with the help of Dean who had come to give them a hand for a couple of hours before going off to football.
Then Ron stayed at the flat and continued to pack while Harry moved the boxes to Hermione's new home, where she and Ginny were waiting to unpack. It was working well so far, and at the rate they were going Harry thought it might only take another couple of hours before they were finished.
Ron yawned as he moved yet another box onto the landing. He was still marvelling at how much stuff Hermione owned; it had never looked like that much when he had visited in the past. No wonder she hadn't wanted to come back here and pack. She probably just couldn't face all the hard work.
He stretched, trying to straighten a kink out of his back, then jumped with shock as he realised he wasn't alone. A small old woman with grey hair and twinkling blue eyes wearing a long black velvet robe was watching him intently. Ron smiled at her uncertainly.
'What's happening?' the old woman asked interestedly, pointing towards the door of Hermione's flat. 'Where's Hermione?'
Ron thought about it for a moment and realised that the woman obviously knew Hermione as they had been neighbours for years and Hermione probably wouldn't mind her knowing that she had moved.
'Hermione's moved to a new flat,' he told her. 'We're just packing and transporting her stuff for her. She's at the new place getting settled in.'
The old woman looked pensive for a moment, then shook her head.
'She's making a big mistake,' she announced confidently. She sighed and added, 'Hermione needs to stay here and sort it out with him not run away and try to pretend nothing's happening. It's ridiculous behaviour.'
Ron looked confused as he asked, 'Hermione should sort what out with who?'
The old woman looked at him suspiciously. 'Are you her boyfriend, young man?'
Ron shook his head. 'No, just an extremely old friend of hers who wants to know what you're talking about. What is it that Hermione needs to sort out?'
The old woman looked much happier at hearing that Ron wasn't Hermione's boyfriend. She smiled at him again.
'Tell Hermione from me that running away won't help. It's not going to make anything any better for her and it will never make her happy. She needs to face up to it and sort things out with him. It's the only way she's ever going to be happy.'
'Right . . . okay,' Ron said dubiously. 'I'll tell her. Should I tell her who you're talking about?'
'She already knows,' the old woman said cryptically. 'But you need to give her my message. You look like a reliable sort of chap, so make sure you do it.'
Ron nodded his head in agreement, hoping the obviously batty old woman would go away and leave him alone.
Harry appeared in the hallway with a pop.
'Don't forget what I said,' the old woman repeated sharply as she made her way back to her own front door.
'I won't,' Ron promised.
He watched as she entered her flat and closed the door without looking back at either him or Harry.
'What was that all about?' Harry asked. He pointed at the closed door.
'I dunno. That batty old woman came out to give me a message for Hermione. It was really cryptic, although she's convinced Hermione will know what she's talking about.' Ron sounded a little disgruntled.
'What's the message?' Harry asked.
Ron thought for a moment then said, 'She said Hermione needs to stay here and sort it out with him not run away and try to pretend nothing's happening. I'm supposed to tell her that running away won't help. She said it's not going to make anything any better for her and it will never make her happy. She needs to face up to it and sort things out. It's the only way she's ever going to be happy.'
Harry looked at him in astonishment. 'Did she tell you who she was talking about?'
Ron shook his head. 'No, because she said Hermione would know. But a "him". I mean, surely it can't be that creep in prison because she wouldn't want Hermione sorting things out with him, but what "him" is she talking about? I didn't know Hermione had another boyfriend . . . apart from that Michael. Did you?'
Harry shook his head, looking as confused as Ron as he tried to think who the woman could be talking about. 'No . . . although . . . oh god, she's not talking about Draco, is she?' he asked slowly as he remembered Hermione gushing about the blond man who had rescued her. A nasty thought popped into his mind as he remembered their conversation and how upset Hermione had suddenly become, which he had assumed at the time was to do with Michael.
'Draco — what, Draco Malfoy? Why the hell would she be talking about him?' Ron asked in confusion.
Harry groaned as he realised what had to have happened. He rubbed his eyes behind his glasses as he said, 'Oh god, I bet she is and that's why Hermione's running away. That's why she didn't want to come back here. It's got nothing to do with Michael or with being scared. She's running away from Draco.'
Ron looked at him as if he was mad. 'What the hell are you talking about, Harry? You're making no more sense than that batty old woman. Why would Hermione be running away from Draco Malfoy?'
'Because Draco was the one who saved her, wasn't he?' Harry said as if it was obvious.
'Did he?' Ron sound stunned. 'Hermione never mentioned that Malfoy was part of the team that rescued her.'
Harry nodded, looking more convinced than ever. 'Well, that proves it's him. Hermione didn't tell you because she didn't see you until after I'd spoken to her.' He groaned. 'Oh, god. What a bloody nightmare, and it's probably all my . . . .' He stopped, seeing that Ron still looked confused, and changed tack to try to explain. 'Draco's an Extractor and he was literally the one who rescued her. She said he was really nice to her afterwards, and I think she meant really nice.'
Ron looked shocked. 'You mean you think they—?'
'Of course. It makes perfect sense,' Harry blurted.
Ron shook his head. 'No, it doesn't. Why would they do something like that? They hated each other at school and that wasn't likely to have changed, however long it was since they last saw each other.'
Harry shook his head, too, as he followed the trail of his thought to its logical conclusion.
'No, they didn't,' he said, confident he was right.
'Yeah, they did. Remember they were always fighting — he was always calling her horrible names. They were always at it,' Ron reminded him.
'But during all those years they never kept away from each other, did they?' Harry said, now absolutely certain of what he was saying.
'What do you mean?' Ron asked.
Harry was excited now. 'Think about it logically, Ron. They didn't hate each other — they fancied each other. But because of the way things were back then . . . with the way Draco's family were and with Hermione being Muggle-born they couldn't fancy each other, so they used to fight — it meant they were still together, but instead of being a couple they pretended to hate each other. They probably didn't even realise at the time.'
'That's rubbish,' Ron contested. 'If he fancied her as much as you reckon, why did he let Bellatrix torture her?'
Harry stared at him. 'Come on, Ron, he didn't have any choice, did he? I don't think he'd have been able to stop that mad bitch, and he was surrounded by family and threatened with a visit by Voldemort. He was probably too scared. Let's face it, he wasn't much of a hero when he was at school, was he? And that's probably why he got such a dangerous job — to make up for being such a coward when he was at school.'
'Yeah, I suppose you're right,' Ron said quietly. He didn't look convinced.
Harry knew his friend was dubious but was determined to convince him. 'No, honestly. I'm sure I'm right. That would explain perfectly what's happened now.'
'What are you talking about?' Ron asked frustratedly.
'Look, it all makes sense if you think about it in the context of what I've just said. Draco saves Hermione from Michael, and while doing so he realises that he still fancies her and is affected by what she went through. It makes him even more likely to want to protect her, which probably increased the attraction even further. Meanwhile, Hermione still fancies him and is extremely grateful he saved her, which would increase his attractiveness to her. They end up . . . oh, I don't know . . . oh, yeah, of course . . . they end up in bed and it's great.'
'Great?' Ron looked at his friend with sceptical amusement.
'Yeah. It's really good between them. I mean, want-to-be-together-forever good,' Harry replied fervently.
'Right. I'm with you so far . . . I think. So why's she running away from him if everything was so great and they want to be together forever?' Ron asked, frowning.
Harry stared at him. 'Because he's married, isn't he?'
Ron stared back. 'What? What do you mean, he's married?'
'Didn't you know, either? Blimey, he married that Caroline Foster or whatever her name is. Incredibly rich girl with long blonde hair who used hang around with Pansy Parkinson,' Harry said, wondering whether he had been living on a different planet to his friends. How was it possible neither of them had known?
'Oh, yeah, that's right,' Ron said, nodding. 'I remember the papers saying that once he gets his inheritance from his parents he'll be the richest wizard in Britain or something because of their combined wealth.' He looked at Harry in horror. 'Oh, shit. Are you saying Hermione didn't know he was married and she slept with him?'
Harry nodded, looking rueful. 'I think that's what happened,' he admitted, 'and I was the one who told her.'
'Told her? What do you mean, you told her?' Ron asked.
Harry sighed. 'Hermione told me she had seen Draco, that he was the one who rescued her and that he had been really nice and had looked after her really well. It didn't ring any alarm bells with me at the time and so without thinking I asked if he had mentioned his wife or whether he'd had children yet. She was a bit strange after that but I didn't think anything of it, at least not in relation to him. To be honest, I thought she was upset about Michael still — but of course, if she thought there was something between her and Draco, imagine what it was like when she discovered he was married.'
'Oh gods, that bastard. I can't believe he slept with Hermione when he was married. He was always a real tosser and he obviously hasn't changed,' Ron said angrily.
'But he probably thought she knew — I mean, let's face it, the wedding wasn't exactly kept a secret, was it? It was the wedding of the century. It's not really surprising that he would expect her to know,' Harry replied reasonably.
Ron shook his head. 'He still shouldn't have done it. He's a married man. He had no right to lead Hermione on like that.'
'Perhaps it just happened,' Harry said. 'They had both been through an extremely stressful situation and Hermione was terrified. He helped her through that; she said he was wonderful.'
'That's no excuse. He should have had more self-control. He used Hermione's vulnerability to take advantage of her,' Ron countered.
'But going back to what I said before, I think Draco's in love with Hermione. I think he always has been, and their reunion triggered the feelings that had been lying dormant in both of them for all those years,' Harry explained.
'So if he was so in love with Hermione, why did he get married to someone else, then?' Ron asked a touch belligerently.
Harry sighed. 'Oh, I don't know, Ron. Maybe he had to. Maybe he thought he'd never have a chance with Hermione. Or maybe he'd quashed his feelings so effectively that he didn't even realise they were there until he saw her again.'
'Well, whatever he feels for her doesn't make it right,' Ron said.
'Even if she feels the same way about him?' Harry asked.
'She doesn't, though,' Ron said hurriedly.
Harry looked at Ron, curious at his response. 'Really? What makes you think that?'
'Of course she doesn't. She obviously moved because she wanted to get away from him,' Ron retorted.
'Yeah, but only because she found out he was married — there was no sign of her wanting to move home before that. If it was the stalker she was worried about as she keeps saying it is, she would never have gone home in the first place. All this not wanting to come back to the flat is because she's worried Draco's going to be waiting for her. Which means she did a disappearing act without telling him,' Harry pointed out.
Ron looked at his friend for a moment as he tried to process everything Harry had said.
'So you reckon she loves him, too?'
Harry nodded. 'Yes, I do, and I think she was upset when she found out he was married and her natural response was to flee so he couldn't hurt her again. You remember Stefan and what happened there.'
Ron scowled at the mention of Hermione's ex-fiancé. Just the mention of the man's name still made him angry. Forcing the thought of Stefan away and turning his mind back to Draco he sighed.
'If that's true, what are we going to do about it?' he asked seriously. 'If Hermione really is in love with Draco she's going to be miserable forever, isn't she?'
'Unless we can find a way to get them together again. That neighbour of hers is right. Hermione should never have run away. She should have stayed and sorted it out with Draco instead,' Harry said.
'But he's still married,' Ron reminded him.
'At the moment he is. But if Draco feels about Hermione the way I think he does, he isn't going to want to stay married for much longer. Anyway, his marriage can't have been that great otherwise he would never have slept with Hermione in the first place.'
'If he did,' Ron said. 'This is all just your supposition, after all.'
Harry looked at him. 'You don't think I'm right? So what's your theory?'
Ron shrugged. 'To be honest, I dunno what to think, Harry. I just know she's unhappy and I don't think this move is going to sort it out.'
'I think we have to get them back together — to talk, at least, if nothing else. Hermione needs to stop running and talk to Draco,' Harry said.
'Well, I'm not suggesting it to her. I want to keep my balls,' Ron said with a wry grin.
Harry sighed. 'I'll talk to her about it once she's settled in and see if I can get her to talk to him.'
'Maybe you should talk to Draco first,' Ron suggested.
Harry shook his head. 'You can talk to him, I'll talk to Hermione. Between us we must be able to convince them to talk, surely?'
'I don't know whether I hope you're right or wrong about this,' Ron said.
'I know exactly what you mean,' Harry agreed. He sighed once more. 'Well, I suppose we'd better get on. Hermione will be wondering where I've got to.'
Ron spent a lot of time considering what Harry had told him about Hermione, and although he tried to think of another explanation there was nothing that made any sense. As horrific as he found the idea, especially after everything Malfoy had done to Hermione in the past, he had to get used to the fact that it was almost certain his best friend was in love with the blond ex-Slytherin — and worse still, that it was quite probable she had fancied him all the time they had been at school.
As he and Harry had suspected would be the case, Hermione's moving hadn't done anything much to cheer her up, although she did seem a little less scared. But since he knew now that this wasn't her primary reason for moving, it didn't assuage his disgruntled feelings much.
Eventually, he decided he had put off talking to Draco long enough and so he went to find him. He was actually interested to see the man again to see how he had changed in the decade since they had last spoken, and Ron, like Harry, was also interested to discover what had made Draco decide to become an Extractor.
It was almost impossible to get hold of Draco during normal working hours as the Extraction teams worked shifts and were a cagey bunch at the best of times. But Ron finally managed to track the man down in the canteen late one night after he returned from a raid, desperately needing a cup of tea and some food before going home to bed. He had been surprised to see Draco sitting alone in the canteen nursing a large cup of coffee and looking at least as morose as Hermione did these days.
Once he had grabbed himself a sandwich and a cup of tea Ron made his way through the sparsely populated room and sat down at the table opposite Draco.
'This table is already occupied, in case you hadn't noticed,' Draco said coldly. His voice sounded rough and tired and he stared at the table, refusing to lift his head.
'I want to talk to you,' Ron said as he stirred his tea and pulled open the packaging on his sandwich.
'Maybe I don't want company at the moment,' Draco informed him.
'Why's that? Feeling guilty, by any chance?' Ron retorted, unable to stop the dislike he had always felt for the Slytherin from rising. He took a bite of his sandwich as he forced himself to calm down.
Draco glared angrily at Ron. 'What have I got to feel guilty about, Weasley? Why don't you just leave me alone? I didn't ask for your company.'
Ron managed to stay calm as he watched Draco sink the rest of his coffee. 'No, you didn't, but you're getting it anyway. I want to talk to you about Hermione.'
'If you've come to thank me for saving her, don't bother. It was all part of the job. It was an easy extraction which the team performed perfectly. The abductor is safely in Azkaban and she's free to go about her business without any worry of further harassment from him,' Draco replied matter-of-factly, his heart beating faster at the thought of Hermione. He stood up. He needed to get away before he lost his temper. 'If you want to know more, the report's been filed.'
Draco walked off towards the exit. Ron grabbed his sandwich and hurried after him.
'I haven't finished, Malfoy.'
Draco looked back at him, his face drawn and weary. 'Well, I have. I've got another three hours to get through after a thirteen-hour double shift before I can finally go home and get some sleep and I don't need you bending my ear. Go away, Weasley.'
Ignoring Draco's request, Ron continued to follow him down the corridor.
'What did you do to Hermione?' he asked.
Draco ignored him and carried on walking. He ran up a flight of stairs and along another corridor, hoping Weasley would give up and leave him alone as he really wasn't in the mood for talking, especially about Hermione.
'Don't ignore me,' Ron said, feeling his temper rise as he followed Draco. He threw the sandwich in a bin and sped up to keep pace with the rapidly disappearing man. 'What did you do to Hermione?'
Draco sighed, stopped walking, and stared balefully at Ron.
'I've no idea what you're talking about. Now leave me alone.'
Ron grabbed Draco's arm as he started to turn away. 'Oh, come on, Malfoy, don't play dumb with me. What did you do to her?'
Draco shrugged and sighed. 'You've got the wrong bloke, Weasley. I didn't do anything to her. That nutter's locked away in Azkaban.'
Ron stared at him in disbelief. 'No, he isn't. You really think you did nothing? Didn't you have sex with her even though you're married?'
'What's it got to do with you? It's none of your business. Hermione and I are both adults,' Draco replied belligerently, trying to keep himself from hitting Weasley as he knew it wouldn't help in the long run, even if it would make him feel better for a few minutes.
'Hermione's my friend,' Ron said, 'and I care about what scumbags like you do to her.'
Draco snorted. 'Yeah, right, of course, she's your friend and you care about her so much, don't you?' He stared maliciously at Ron. 'What's the matter, Weasley, are you jealous that she finally found herself a real man?'
With a roar, Ron grabbed Draco and pushed him up against the wall, one large hand on his chest and the other around his throat.
'I should smash your face in, you evil little snake. I don't know what you did to her, you bastard, but I know you did something to upset her and you're going to pay for it.'
Draco pushed at Ron, trying to throw him off, although he was leaner and shorter than his attacker. He was trying desperately to keep his temper in check, knowing that as tired as he was it wouldn't take much for him to lash out. With his special training Weasley wouldn't stand a chance and could end up seriously injured.
He wasn't even sure what the man wanted from him. Hermione had obviously told him about what they had done, but he wasn't sure what Weasley expected him to do. He had nothing to apologise for, especially not to him, and Hermione had made it clear that she didn't want anything to do with him so he was keeping away, just as she wanted, however much it hurt him to do so.
'I didn't do anything to Hermione. I don't know what she's told you about it, but she was the one who left, not me,' Draco said agitatedly. He pushed against Ron again. 'Let go of me, you bloody gorilla.'
Reluctantly Ron released Draco and stepped back.
'So, what, you're saying there's nothing between you and Hermione?' he asked, sounding disbelieving. 'You don't think having sex with her counts as something?'
Draco stared at him for a moment, then he sighed, seeming to deflate as he admitted, 'That's right, there's nothing between us. There might have been, and I wanted there to be, but Hermione ran away. She decided she didn't want what I was offering.'
'That's not really surprising considering what you were offering,' Ron said.
'Look, I understand you care about her but I'm not the bad guy in this, Weasley. I'm in love with Hermione and I told her that. Unfortunately, that doesn't appear to be enough for her so I've backed off and I'm leaving her alone . . . just as she requested.' Draco's voice was bitter as he recounted the final sentence.
'Maybe that has something to do with you being married,' Ron pointed out coldly.
Draco shook his head. 'I was married. I'm getting a divorce. It's all agreed, I'm just waiting for it to go through.'
Ron stared at Draco in surprise. Although he had sort of bought into Harry's theory about Hermione and Draco and their unrequited love, his natural and long-held enmity for the Slytherin hadn't allowed him to really believe that Draco wasn't a love rat who was just using Hermione for his own pleasure.
He had been convinced that the man had no intention of ending his marriage, despite Harry's assertion to the contrary, and was sure this was why Hermione had run away from him. Yet here Draco was, looking an absolute mess, which was clearly caused by a bad attempt at trying to forget about Hermione by working too hard — and drinking too hard, too, if his rheumy eyes were anything to go by — admitting to Ron that he had ended his marriage for her even though she had ended things between them.
Ron fought down the sudden sympathy he felt for Draco.
'Was that before or after you slept with Hermione?' he asked.
'It was after. But I didn't go after Hermione deliberately if that's what you're thinking. It just happened between us. It wasn't planned or anything,' Draco admitted.
'So, what, you're saying you never meant for it to happen?' Ron shot back sarcastically. 'I suppose it was all a big mistake, was it?'
Draco looked hurt at the inference. 'No, it definitely wasn't a mistake. It wasn't planned, but it was still the best thing that's ever happened to me.'
Ron stared at him in surprise. 'What do you mean, it's the best thing?'
Draco sighed, knowing he had no choice but to explain. He glanced at his watch, then indicated a door down the corridor.
'If you want me to explain you'll have to come with me because I need to get back to the office. I've left it unmanned for too long.'
Ron followed Draco down the corridor, waiting while he unlocked and unwarded the nondescript door, interested to see what the Extraction section looked like. He was disappointed to discover that it didn't really look much different from his own office, except for a row of leather uniforms hanging on hooks on one side of the room. Draco sat down at his desk and indicated a seat the other side that Ron should take, then looked down at the messages he had scooped off the floor and dumped on the desk on his return. Deciding that there was nothing that couldn't wait for a few minutes, he looked back at Ron.
'Do you actually know anything about what really happened between us or have you just heard vague hints from Hermione and concocted some stupid scenario off your own bat?' he asked.
Ron shrugged and admitted, 'Hermione hasn't said anything about you at all, but when we were moving the stuff from her flat the other day the woman next door said a few things that got Harry and me thinking.'
'And so you put two and two together and came up with Draco Malfoy as a lying, cheating love rat, yeah?' Draco asked, feeling aggrieved.
Ron looked a little uncomfortable for a moment. 'Well, we worked out that you had obviously had sex, and Harry realised he had told Hermione that you were married. From there it wasn't too hard to work out that she ran away because she was unhappy about what you did to her.'
Draco sighed again. 'Fine. I'll tell you exactly what happened between us, Weasley. It's up to you to decide whether you want to believe me or not, but I'm not going to lie to you. I don't believe in lying; it doesn't solve anything.'
'Okay,' Ron said, trying to put aside his ingrained dislike of Draco. 'So tell me. I'm interested to hear what you have to say.'
Draco thought for a moment before he started speaking again. 'I honestly never realised how much I fancied Hermione until the day I rescued her. She was so frightened and upset and I just wanted to make her feel better. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and keep her safe so she would know she had nothing to fear from arseholes like that Antenucci, because I would stop them. But there was something there, something between us that I couldn't quite quantify. It wasn't until later, when I thought about it properly, that I understood that our desire for each other stemmed not from what was happening then — although that definitely helped to fan the flames — but from when we were at school. I realised that all that fighting and stupid stuff was because I was in love with Hermione, not because I hated her. I had locked it away, not wanting to admit to my feelings because of all that stupid crap I believed in back then. Seeing Hermione again in such an inflammatory situation . . . it had the effect of a volcano.'
Ron nodded, looking serious. 'That's what Harry thought, too. He was convinced that you had a thing for each other at school, despite appearances. I have to admit I wasn't convinced.'
'Well, he knew more than me, then,' Draco admitted. 'I didn't know when we were at school. I genuinely thought I hated Hermione in the same way I hated you and Potter, but looking back on it I realise it was nothing like that. Even my father understood what was going on before I did. That was why he was so awful to her all the time and why he let Aunt Bellatrix . . . .'
He broke off for a moment, looking ravaged by the thought of what had happened to Hermione at the hands of his aunt.
'Gods, you have no idea how guilty I felt about letting that happen to Hermione.' He gave a harsh bark of a laugh and shook his head with disbelief. 'You'd have thought that would have been enough to make me understand what I truly felt for her, wouldn't you? But it wasn't. It was only when I saw her in that dark, oppressive house that my true feelings for her finally emerged, and even then I didn't understand it.
'When things got more sexual between us — and I want to point out here that I was not the one who made the first move — I'll admit I did hesitate for a moment, both because I was worried I was taking advantage of Hermione given the situation she had just been rescued from and because I was married. But I wanted her so much, and she wanted me, too, so I went with it. I honestly didn't realise she didn't know I was married — I thought everyone in the whole bloody wizarding world knew after all that palaver in the papers. I just assumed she wasn't mentioning it because she didn't want to be reminded. By the time I went home I knew I was completely in love with Hermione and that my marriage, such as it was, was over.
'But we'd only been together once, and although I knew how I felt I wasn't sure if Hermione felt the same way about me. So I went to see her again and it confirmed what I knew: that we were supposed to be a couple because we were perfect together. I was so elated I was almost giddy, and I decided it was time to seek a divorce from Caro. I didn't mention it to Hermione, though, because I thought it was a bit early to start talking about marriage after only a couple of days together, especially after Antenucci.
'I didn't expect to have much of a problem getting Caro's agreement as our relationship has always been one of duty rather than love. Having been with Hermione I knew I couldn't stay married to Caro, even if Hermione ultimately decided she didn't want to be with me — although I was convinced that wasn't going to be a problem, as she clearly felt the same way as me. I went to see Hermione the evening she started back to work expecting the promised home-cooked meal and armed with the good news about my decision to get a divorce, but when I got there she was upset and withdrawn and was suddenly fixated on Caro.'
'Because Harry had told her you were married,' Ron said quietly.
Draco nodded. 'I guess that must have been it, but of course I didn't know he had spoken to her about it and I couldn't understand why she was so upset. I thought she knew I was married and was at a complete loss to understand why it was suddenly such a problem, especially as I'd decided to leave Caro for Hermione. It took ages to get her to open her door. That neighbour you mentioned, Mrs Hamblin, was so sweet. She kept coming out to give me support and keep me trying to get through to Hermione.
'Eventually Hermione did let me in. I apologised because I really hadn't tried to deceive her, and I thought I had explained myself properly. I really thought she had forgiven me, she let me into her bed and it was every bit as wonderful as every other time we had made love. I even stayed with her all night because I didn't want to leave her, didn't want to go home. When I left in the morning everything seemed fine and we arranged for me to come round in the evening, by which time I would have told Caro that our marriage was over.
'I kept to my side of the bargain. As soon as I finished work I went home and told Caro that I wanted a divorce. She wasn't too happy to begin with, and not surprisingly wasn't pleased that I had been seeing Hermione. But eventually, she agreed to let it go through uncontested as she knew she didn't have much choice. I went straight over to Hermione's flat to tell her the good news but she was gone.
'She left a letter with Mrs Hamblin, basically telling me that she didn't believe I was sincere in my feelings for her. She accused me of knowing that she didn't know about Caro and that I had no intention of getting a divorce; then she said she didn't want to see me any longer and I wasn't to try to contact her in any way. It's driving me mad because I want to talk to her so badly, but I can't go anywhere near her. I don't want her to think I'm another stalker.'
'You know the reason she doesn't want to see you is because she feels you made her look stupid, don't you?' Ron told Draco. 'She was already feeling embarrassed about falling for Michael after what happened with him, and then you come along and make her feel twice the fool.'
Draco looked pained. 'But I honestly didn't. I've just explained to you what happened. Surely you can see it was a complete misunderstanding on my part. It certainly wasn't meant maliciously. I wasn't trying to take advantage of Hermione. I would never do that to her.'
Ron sighed. 'I know, and I can see where you're coming from, but I'm not Hermione.'
'No, but you could talk to her on my behalf. You could explain to Hermione what really happened and make her see how much I love her.' Draco looked pleadingly at Ron and it made him uncomfortable to hear the begging tone in the blond man's voice. 'Please, Weasley, will you talk to her for me?'
'Harry's going to talk to her to try to get her to open up about what happened and hopefully, convince her to talk to you, but I'll also try to talk to her. I can't promise anything, though,' Ron said.
'Thank you so much,' Draco said, overwhelmingly grateful at the possibility that Ron might be able to help him get Hermione back. The stress he had been under for the last few weeks combined with his fatigue threatened to emerge in the form of tears and he fought hard to combat them, not wanting to embarrass himself in front of Weasley.
For a moment Ron thought Draco was going to cry and he suddenly felt embarrassed at being there. He hurriedly looked around the room again.
'So what made you decide to join the Extraction Service?' he asked, hoping a change of subject would return Draco to his usual belligerent self.
'After all that stuff with Voldemort was over I felt pretty useless,' Draco admitted. 'The Malfoy family name had taken a bit of a beating and I didn't really know what to do with myself. I wanted to do something that would help people, to make up for all that Death Eater crap. But I'm not really a people person, if you know what I mean, and I couldn't be bothered with loads more years of studying, so becoming a Healer was out.
'Originally I intended to join the Auror office like you and Potter, but then a friend of my father's told me about the Extraction Service. He explained that it was a difficult job to get into involving a lot of specialist training and a wickedly gruelling set of tests, but I was feeling a bit reckless at the time and honestly had nothing better to do, so I thought I might as well give it a go. I was amazed when I actually got accepted, but I soon realised that extraction was my forte and it didn't take me long to become a team leader.'
'It's really dangerous, though, isn't it?' Ron asked.
Draco shrugged. 'It can be, and to be honest we do have a pretty high casualty rate. But I've been lucky so far: only three major injuries and about a dozen minor ones. It's just part and parcel of the job. You get used to it and you just learn to take each job as it comes. It helps having a team you can trust, and I honestly believe mine are the best.'
'So do you intend to stay in Extraction?' Ron asked carefully. 'I was just thinking that if you did manage to get back together with Hermione I don't think she would be very happy about you putting yourself in danger all the time. Actually, I'm surprised your wife was happy to let you do it, especially when it sounds like you were just trying to make a name for yourself.'
Draco chuckled. 'Caro didn't have any choice. I was already doing the job when we married and I had no intention of giving it up for her. I think I needed it, in a way, to cope with the marriage and to make amends for all the crap I'd espoused when Voldemort was around. When she agreed to the divorce Caro told me that I should change jobs because it wasn't fair to Hermione to keep doing what I'm doing, especially if we were thinking of having children.
'As things currently stand I have no need to change jobs, and the danger is a challenge I relish. If by some miracle Hermione does give me another chance I will definitely have to think about stopping although it's hard at the moment with so few uninjured Extractors available. I've been doing double and even triple shifts for weeks to ensure there's always cover — although of course, that makes the operations themselves that much more dangerous when we're all running on black coffee and adrenalin.'
'It sounds to me like you need to take better care of yourself,' Ron told him.
Draco shrugged and said honestly, 'At the moment I find it hard to care, Weasley. I have no Hermione and I've only just managed to get away from living with my parents again. I moved in with them when Caro agreed to the divorce as I had no desire to keep on living with her. Life is just one long round of working and sleeping, but at least I have an interesting job even if it is a bit dangerous.'