Chapter Seven:
By the time Hermione arrives at the Burrow on Sunday she has the Daily Prophet article about her and Draco Malfoy memorized, and she knows about a dozen people are going to ask her about it today.
So it comes as no surprise that as she soon as she sets foot in the front door and barely gets out a hello to Mrs. Weasley, she is whisked away to the second floor by Ginny.
"Slow down Ginny! You can't talk to me if I'm unconscious!" she exclaims as they finally make it into her friend's old bedroom.
"Alright 'Mione, spill," she says as she tosses the paper onto her lap.
There on the front page in bold words reads, War Heroin Hermione Granger and Reformed Death Eater Draco Malfoy: Dating? With a picture of her and Draco leaving the restaurant: he has his arm around her protectively and she has eyes only for him. Then there's the other picture at the bottom of the page, it seems that someone had chased after them when they ran off and had gotten a picture; a picture that Hermione has personally cut out of her own paper and wishes to keep forever. There they are, getting unbelievably wet from the rain and in a tight embrace, but then a second later Hermione is laughing and saying something to Draco, he then gives her a look that makes her a little jealous until she remembers that she's the one it's for. She looks back up at Ginny and blushes as she realizes everyone has now seen the intimate moment they shared, and she knows there is no way of denying what is clearly right in front of them.
"Well, it seems that we're casually dating." She says, not being able to hold back the enormous smile that fills her face.
Ginny throws her hands in the air and exclaims, "HA! That picture depicts anything but "casual" but regardless, I knew it! I knew sending those letters out would do you some good."
Hermione, being in her own little world, almost misses what Ginny says, almost.
"YOU WHAT!? IT WAS YOU! HOW DID YOU EVEN KNOW ABOUT THEM?"
"Oh honestly Hermione, you can't be mad at me, you were basically turning into a hermit, you just needed a little shove. And I found them when we were packing up your room, it was such a cute hat box, I was curious what was inside..." Ginny tells her with a large amount of smugness about her.
It takes everything in Hermione not to slap that smug look off her face. "You may have helped Draco and I get together, but you also completely invaded my privacy and put me in a lot of uncomfortable situations! Situations, that at the time, I cursed the person who had gotten me there" she says while holding up her wand, pointing it straight at her friend.
For a brief moment Ginny looks worried, but her confidence never wavers as she sternly replies, "You're not going to jinx me for this, so put your wand away."
Hermione sighs, of course she isn't going to jinx her, but the threat made her feel a little better. "You're right, but it doesn't mean I'm not going to glare daggers at you for the next foreseeable future" she tells her.
"Deal." Ginny replies, "and frankly I say give it a few more weeks and you may even be thanking me." And with that she bounces out of the room with a smirk.
"I swear that girl should have been in Slytherin" Hermione mutters to herself, as she too walks out of the room to join the rest of the family and see what they have instore for her.
Come Monday her day is dragging on, it is half past three and she wonders what Draco is doing. She knows his office is located in the Department of International Magical Cooperation, but she hasn't actually been there before. She needs a break from her work and decides to go see him.
She gets off the lift at level 5 and starts reading the names on each door until she finds the right one. As soon as she reads the name Draco Malfoy on the door in front of her, the handle starts to turn and she is suddenly greeted by the face of Astoria Greengrass.
"Oh, hello, er…Astoria" Hermione greets, somewhat awkwardly.
She doesn't even get a reply from the brunette woman, just a nod of her head and a hard look, and then she is gone. Feeling somewhat miffed about the entire exchange, she hasn't realized Draco is calling her name. She does her best to shake off the displeasing moment and directs her attention to him.
"What was she doing here?" As soon as the words come out of her mouth she wishes she could take them back, it sounded like a blatant accusation.
She doesn't blame him for the wall he immediately puts up, and the words that come out of his mouth don't make her feel any better.
"She just came by to talk" then he hesitates for a second, his voice visibly softer, "she saw the prophet this weekend and wanted to hear it from me in person if it was true."
"Why does she care? You guys aren't together anymore..." Merlin, why can't she stop with the accusatory tone?
"Granger, we were a big part of each other's life for a long time, she still cares."
"You mean she still cares about you… do you still love her?" A breath catches in her throat, she can't believe she just asked that, but the other part of her is dying to know the answer.
He seems frustrated, but he answers her anyway, "I still care about her a lot and want the best for her, but am I still in love with her? No."
"How often do you talk to her?" Technically he's not her boyfriend; he is at complete liberty to talk to…
"A few times a week" he softly says, and she can tell he's ashamed to admit it because his eyes are avoiding hers.
It's then that she voices exactly what is going on in her head. "Well, it's not as though we're in a relationship, so you are completely at liberty to talk to whomever you please." And with that she walks out of his office, only vaguely hearing her name being called, and bolts into the nearest loo so she can release the tears that have been threatening to spill out.
After a few minutes of convincing herself that she is fine, it's all just fine, she stands up and walks back to her office.
As she nears her office door she notices that it's been left open and she can see someone sitting in one of her chairs. Her first thought jumps to Malfoy, but their hair isn't blonde…
As she walks in they turn around and give her a big smile and her heart skips a beat.
"Theo?"
"Hello Hermione" he says and she swears he's never said her first name before.
"What on earth are you doing here, I thought you lived in America?"
He chuckles, "Well, I had a meeting with someone in the Goblin division here at the ministry, turns out the Goblins in America are not happy and thinking of starting a riot, so I was… anyway that is irrelevant..."
Hermione smiles, she had almost forgotten his little habit of rambling.
"...as I was walking to my meeting, wouldn't you know it, I see the name Hermione Granger on one of the doors I was passing!" He pauses to catch his breath "So naturally when I got out and saw your office door open I took the liberty to take a seat and wait for you to come back." He finishes with a dazzling smile.
"That's it huh? Just pure curiosity in seeing an old schoolmate?" she banters back.
The years after the war have been good to him. His dark brown hair is slightly longer than the short cropped look he wore at Hogwarts and it is nicely styled to the side, she even sees a few curls in it. He also seems to have gotten taller, and Merlin, does he work out now? Maybe he just buys tighter shirts…yes, let's go with that she tells herself, shaking the image of Theo working out from her mind.
"Yes, of course, and…" here he pauses "and I received a very interesting letter from you the other week."
There it is. The letter.
Of course he had gotten the letter. Everyone else had at this point, so why not him? She is positive her face has gone a few shades whiter, but she looks at him and sees the genuine smile on his face, with the dimple she had almost forgotten about, and she knows he won't make this unbearable for her.
"Oh calm down Granger, I'm not gonna take the micky out of you, I very much enjoyed the reminder of that year. It was one of my favorites too." With that he motions for her to sit down, he clearly isn't going anywhere.
About an hour later she finds herself sitting on the edge of her desk, legs crossed and her attention entirely on Nott. He is currently telling her about a situation he had found himself in that involved a goblin, a giant, and a vampire, and his ability to talk so animatedly and without taking a breath amazes her. She has just spent the last little bit noticing the freckles that slightly dust his nose and realizes how much time she had spent that sixth year memorizing them.
Theo has just finished his story and they are laughing at the insanity of it all, when there is a knock on her door. As Hermione wipes the happy tears from her eyes she calls to the visitor to come in and there stands Draco Malfoy.
When Draco notices that Hermione has a visitor he becomes hesitant, "Oh, I just wanted to see if we could talk before you left for the day but I can see you're busy…" and before he can finish Nott has turned around and flashes him a huge comical smile.
"Malfoy! How the hell are you mate?" Draco visibly tenses and his eyes move between the two of them when he realizes it is Theodore Nott who is in her office, and not a coworker, but quickly recovers and gives his old friend a suitable reply, "I'm good, what are you doing in London?"
"I was here for a meeting and a job interview actually."
At this Hermione quickly exclaims, "a job interview? You didn't tell me that part!" She is slightly offended he didn't divulge that secret with her.
"Don't worry I was going to get to that, I'll tell you more details tomorrow at our lunch." He tells her with a wink. He then starts to stand up, "I really should be off though, it was good to see you mate, we should get together with Zabini and Goyle while I'm here" he tells Draco as he gives him a friendly pat on the back.
"Yeah, definitely, I know Zabini wouldn't miss an opportunity to brag about his life to anyone who'll listen." Draco drawls.
"Perfect, I'll owl everyone." Theo then looks at Hermione, gives her a wave from the door and says, "till tomorrow" and walks out.