Worth the Wait
Chapter Thirteen
Watching Hermione Granger prepare his tea very nearly takes Draco's breath away. It's been quite a while since he has had this particular pleasure.
All things considered, Draco thinks that their date– yes, he's calling it a date– went quite well. He had gone into this evening cautiously optimistic. Hermione had agreed to see him– to have dinner with him. That had to mean that she was considering him again– at least, that's what Draco hopes it means.
"Do you still take sugar in yours?" Hermione asks, her back still turned to Draco.
It shouldn't surprise Draco that Hermione– a witch he spent four years of his life with– remembers his tea preferences, but it does. He falters for a moment.
"I do, thank you," Draco responds, his voice wavering slightly.
Hermione turns around, with a mug in each hand, and walks over to the table. She places a solid blue mug in front of Draco while she sits and sips from her own similar mug.
Draco drinks from his own cup– the perfect cup of tea, just as he remembers.
Draco had been thinking of saying something in particular all through their dinner this evening, but he thought it best to say in a more private setting. He figures that now is as good a time as any.
"Hermione," he starts, frowning slightly. "I realized while we were at dinner that I never truly apologized to you for keeping the contract from you."
Hermione's eyebrows raise. Draco knows that this conversation is several years too late, but perhaps, in this case, late is still better than never.
"I am sorry. At first, I genuinely did not think that it was relevant. I can truly say that I did not expect to fall in love with you. You were right– I should have told you once I realized that I had fallen for you, but I was selfish. I wanted to keep you for as long as I could, and Astoria was already looking for ways out of the contract, too, so I just– I knew that you would leave once you found out and by that point, I couldn't bear the thought of losing you."
Draco taps the band of his Malfoy signet ring against the handle of his mug.
"That is not an excuse– I know that that was a poor choice. I have made a lot of those. All I can do now is promise you that I have no more secrets and that you will know far more than you ever wanted to from now on."
Draco takes another sip from his tea– his throat suddenly dry.
"I know that I can't ask you to forget or disregard my past choices. I can, however, ask you to let me show you that I have learned from my mistakes."
Draco watches for Hermione's reaction to what he has said. Her eyebrows furrow and her lips purse. She seems to think for a moment before responding.
"I appreciate and accept your apology, Draco."
Draco feels as if a weight is lifted off of his shoulders. He also feels like there may, however, be a 'but' coming.
"I accept your apology, but I stand by what I said at dinner. It just isn't that simple," Hermione begins, her features softening slightly, despite her stronger words. "I am, however, willing to see you again after today. Perhaps we could have dinner again sometime?"
Okay, so there was a 'but' there, but Draco still feels hopeful, despite it.
"I would like that," he responds, willing his voice to not sound too excited. "May I make a request?"
Draco knows that asking for anything specific at this juncture may be counter-productive, but he thinks that this particular request may endear himself to Hermione in some ways.
Hermione nods in assent.
"I had hoped we could possibly set aside some time to watch the television together again? I am sure that you have plenty more films you would like to show me after three years apart. I actually found that I missed it when you left and I tried to buy one for the Manor, but the old magic rejected the electricity conversion spells."
Draco feels slightly embarrassed to be asking Hermione to watch the television with him, but he truly had grown to enjoy it during his relationship with the aforementioned witch. It had unnerved him at first, and it was difficult to keep up with, but once he acclimated to the sensation, he found that he quite enjoyed it. It was like books or plays, but even more detailed. It seemed like magic, although Hermione insisted that it wasn't.
Hermione laughs lightly, and Draco can't help but smile along with her.
"We can do that. I hope you like 80s movies. I've been on a kick lately."
Draco pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes when the floo in his study activates. For a moment, he allows himself to hope that it's Hermione stepping through his hearth, despite knowing that the chance of that is abysmally slim.
When he reopens his eyes, Draco is not surprised by who is glaring at him from in front of his desk.
"Pansy. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Draco groans, knowing full-well what brought the dark-haired witch to darken his doorstep– or, fireplace, as it were.
Pansy drops down dramatically into one of the chairs opposite Draco's desk, crossing her legs at the knee.
"You're smarter than that, Draco," Pansy states, eyeing her ex pointedly.
Draco crosses his arms over his chest. Pansy Parkinson is, and will always be, a friend to him– albeit, not a close one. The two don't exactly get along since their break-up in sixth year, but Draco suspects that Pansy holds a stronger grudge for his break-up with Hermione than with her. Pansy is fiercely protective of those she loves, and she loves Hermione. Draco assumes that this is the reason for her impromptu visit to the Manor.
"I take it this is about Hermione?" Draco questions, meeting Pansy's eye.
Pansy stands from her chair, leaning on her hands on Draco's desk, looming over him threateningly. In this position, Pansy Parkinson could give Lucius Malfoy a run for his money. If looks could kill, Draco knows that he would be dead.
"Let me be perfectly clear with you, Draco," Pansy spits, narrowing her eyes. "I don't trust you with my best friend, and I will break every bone in your body if you hurt her again. You will wish for an Avada by the time I get through with you, do you understand me?"
Draco opens his mouth to speak, but Pansy cuts him off.
"No, you don't get to speak yet. You are not even close to being in the same league as Hermione Granger, but I know that you know that. You are nowhere near good enough for her, but for some reason, which is completely beyond my level of comprehension, she has decided to entertain your pointy arse again. Don't blow it."
Draco can't help the little twitch his lips do– not quite a smile, but almost.
"I have no intention of blowing it, Pans."
Pansy sits back in the chair she had previously occupied and rolls her eyes.
"Yes, well, forgive me for not having much faith in your intentions," Pansy retorts, before relaxing her shoulders slightly. "She would kill me if she knew I was telling you this, but Draco, I had to stay with her for weeks after she broke up with you to make sure she was feeding herself. I can't– I can't watch her go through that again."
Draco frowns. He had been pretty miserable himself when he lost Hermione, but to hear that the Brightest Witch of Her Age had been reduced to being unable or unwilling to care for herself… Draco feels something in his chest crack.
"I love her," Draco sighs. "Or, I love the memory of her, but even after just one evening with her, I know she's still the same witch I fell in love with once before. Pansy, I can assure you, that if anyone is going to get hurt this time around, it will be me."
Pansy sighs, and Draco assumes she's resisting the urge to roll her eyes.
"Draco, I want to believe you. I really do," she frowns, leaning her elbow on one of the armchair's armrests. "Hermione was happy the other night after your date. She floo'd to mine after you left her flat and talked mine and Neville's ears off for almost an hour. Obviously, I shouldn't be telling you any of this, but I said all of that to say this: It's different with you and her."
Draco raises an eyebrow, unsure of what Pansy means by that.
"I don't know if you kept up with her in the Prophet, but she dated Oliver Wood last year– for a few months. They made a fine couple, but I've seen what Hermione Granger looks like when she's sickeningly in love. She liked Oliver. She loved you. Please don't make her regret giving you another chance."
Draco leans forward on his desk, making direct eye contact with Pansy, conveying his seriousness to the best of his ability.
"I won't."
Draco makes himself comfortable on the sofa in his office. He is well aware of how ridiculous this is, but he can't seem to gather the will to stop now that he's started. It's not his fault that he knows someone who works for the Prophet.
Draco stares at the stacks of back-issues of the Daily Prophet mocking him from the coffee table in front of him. He really shouldn't look at them. He knows that. It'll do him no good to see photos of Hermione with Oliver Wood, or with anyone else, and anyway, what does it matter now that she's agreed to see Draco again?
Draco groans and reaches for the first newspaper. This, as so many things tend to be, is Pansy Parkinson's fault. If she hadn't mentioned that Hermione had dated Oliver, then Draco never would've asked Daphne if she could get him copies of the paper dating back to last summer.
Draco flips through the first paper– one from July of last year. He doesn't see much relating to Hermione, other than just tangentially due to the celebration of Saint Potter's birthday. She was mentioned briefly in an article about Potter's Ministry sanctioned birthday celebration, but only as it pertained to which designer made her dress robes. Draco thinks that that is ridiculous. She's a war heroine, and probably the only reason that Potter is even still alive. She deserves more than just a passing mention about her sartorial choices.
The next paper that mentions her is in September. It's an article discussing her work negotiating centaur rights legislation. Draco doesn't know much about it, but from the article, he gathers that there's some sort of disagreement over land rights, and Hermione has been helping liaise between the Ministry and the centaurs. The photo that accompanies the article looks like it could be Hermione's Ministry identification card photo. Draco thinks it looks rather clinical.
After that, is another paper from September. This one is the first to mention her relationship with Oliver Wood. It's a rather short article, but it's enough. The photo is what catches Draco's eye most, though. In it, Hermione sits across from Wood, in what appears to be a restaurant– Draco can't tell which one– and the pair appear to be chatting back and forth. Hermione is smiling, as is Wood. She looks happy. Draco watches on a loop how Hermione laughs and brushes a curl out of her face.
The next mention of Hermione and Wood is in October. There's a photo of the couple walking down Diagon Alley. Hermione has her arm linked through Wood's and her head resting on his shoulder. Again, she looks happy. She's smiling and towards the end of the loop, she leans up and presses a kiss to the former Quidditch captain's cheek. Draco's pulse thrums in his ears as he watches.
Draco watches that loop probably far too intensely. So intensely, in fact, that he barely registers when the door to his study opens and his former wife enters the room.
"Ah, so that's why you asked my sister to get you old copies of the Prophet," Astoria smirks, sitting down beside Draco.
Draco averts his eyes from Astoria. He hadn't intended for her to know about this little project of his, but he supposes he should've expected Daphne to tell her sister about speaking to her ex-husband.
"Did you know?" Draco asks, and he knows that Astoria will know what he is referring to.
Astoria nods, pursing her lips.
"Just because you didn't keep up with the news doesn't mean I didn't. I knew that it would upset you to know that she was dating someone, so I didn't tell you," Astoria states. "Which, might I add, is extremely hypocritical considering you were married at the time, but I suppose that's just semantics."
Draco rolls his eyes and tosses the newspaper onto the table in front of him. He leans back against the back of the sofa with a sigh.
"Yes, married to you, which neither of us were thrilled about," Draco retorts, eyeing Astoria pointedly, although his lips are pulling up slightly at the corners. "But thank you– for sparing my feelings. You were pregnant in October. My focus needed to be on you."
"That's not why I did it. I knew that if you found out that she was dating someone, and that she seemed happy, that you wouldn't have continued with the plan. And anyway, she and Oliver broke up before Scorpius was born, so it didn't change anything."
Draco nods his reluctant agreement. He supposes that Astoria is right. He absolutely would not have interfered with Hermione's happiness. He never would have approached her again if she was already seeing someone.
"Well, in any case, she is no longer seeing Wood– and she has also agreed to see me again tomorrow night," Draco states, and he watches as Astoria's entire demeanor brightens.
"She has?!" Astoria shrieks with excitement, grasping onto Draco's forearm.
Draco had owled Hermione yesterday after Pansy had left to inquire about when they could see each other again, and she responded a couple of hours later by saying that she was available on Friday evening, if he'd like to come by for that television date. Draco had nearly tripped over himself to confirm before she could change her mind.
"She has."
Ladies and gentlemen, Pansy Parkinson.
Now, let me just say something quickly. I've gotten a few reviews mentioning how they hope that Astoria and Hermione would have some sort of interaction or that Astoria might try to convince Hermione that Draco is worth a second chance. Here's why I didn't do that. I don't really think it's Astoria's place to try to talk to Hermione. I considered it very early on in writing this fic, but I just didn't think it felt right because Astoria and Hermione, outside of Draco, do not know one another.
Pansy, however, has a relationship already with both Draco and Hermione, so it stands to reason that Pansy would be a more appropriate person to intercede, albeit probably in a different way than those of you reviewing about Astoria had intended, lol. I also thought that in the context of this fic, Pansy would absolutely be threatening Draco.
Also, place your guesses for which 80s movie Hermione and Draco will be watching in the next chapter. :P
Also, clearly-jealous-but-pretending-he's-just-curious Draco is my favorite. :P
Y'all. We're almost done with this fic. Only two more chapters and then the epilogue. I'm kinda sad, lol. I don't want it to end.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review- they make me far too happy. (: