Love Ain't
Chapter Three
Hermione's new dress is a light lavender, almost periwinkle color. She bought it specifically for this evening, though she knows that she'll likely be able to wear it again as it isn't too formal and it flatters her figure nicely.
Hermione shuffles from foot to foot as she waits outside of the Italian restaurant which she chose for her and Ronald's anniversary dinner– and she also finds herself trying extremely hard to not seethe with anger as the minutes tick by.
Ron is nearly an hour late. He promised her that he wouldn't be late– and yet.
Hermione glances around herself on the sidewalk, hoping that she might see that swath of instantly recognizable red hair, but to her dismay, she does not. Rather, she is standing on the sidewalk alone in her new dress, realizing in that moment that her aforementioned new dress would be entirely wasted on the wizard whom she calls her boyfriend.
Hermione decides to give Ronald ten more minutes. Ten more minutes, and then she'll leave. What she'll do when she does leave, she isn't sure, but she thinks that perhaps packing a bag might be on the agenda in some capacity– whether hers or Ron's, she isn't sure, but the fact remains that she will not be sharing a bed with him tonight.
Ten minutes– fifteen, even– tick by as Hermione continues to wait. With a final realization that Ron is probably not coming and a frustrated huff, Hermione ducks into an alley to the left of the restaurant, covertly pulling her wand from her beaded bag and casting notice-me-not and Muggle repellant charms before making a decision which she isn't sure that she has ever even considered before.
"Milly," Hermione states, summoning the small elf for the first time ever.
Milly, Draco's house-elf, pops into existence in front of Hermione, looking around in surprise at her surroundings before focusing her large, round eyes on the witch in front of her.
"Oh! Miss Hermione! You is summoning Milly?"
Hermione sighs, kneeling down in front of Milly.
"Is Draco busy, Milly?" Hermione asks, her mind still reeling from the fact that her first instinct when she was disappointed was to reach for Draco– even tangentially through his house-elf. She decides not to parse through that particular thought process at this time.
"Master Draco is home in his study, Miss Hermione. Master Draco is never being too busy for Miss Hermione," Milly explains, and Hermione doesn't know how to dissect that information right this moment before the elf continues. "Shall I fetch Master Draco for Miss Hermione?"
Hermione thinks for a moment, though she thinks that her decision might've been made before Milly had even spoken.
"No.W-will you bring me to him, please?"
Milly's eyes brighten and she holds up her hand for Hermione to take, which she does in short order.
"Of course, Miss Hermione!"
Hermione barely has a moment to breathe before she feels the tug of apparation behind her navel– and with a blink, she finds herself landing in what she assumes is Draco's study based on what Milly had told her.
Hermione stands, whispering a quiet 'thank you' to Milly before the elf pops out of her sight. Bent over his desk, Draco raises his head with a furrow of his brows when he realizes who is standing in his home.
"Hermione?" Draco asks, clear concern in his voice.
Hermione has never been to Draco's home before, and she's not sure why this felt like exactly the refuge she needed tonight, but she realizes with a start that she doesn't regret her decision.
Draco stands from his desk and quickly rounds it, coming to stand in front of the witch who has seemingly invited herself to his home this evening.
"Hermione, what's wrong?"
Hermione blinks, unsure of how Draco can tell that something is wrong– apart from her sudden appearance in his study– until she feels two streaks of tears slip from her eyes down her cheeks.
Draco raises both hands and swipes his thumbs under Hermione's eyes before wandlessly conjuring a handkerchief and using that to dry her tears.
Hermione accepts the gesture, realizing belatedly that her hand has somehow found its way to Draco's forearm, holding tightly and tugging at the sleeve of his Oxford in an attempt to vent her emotions without exploding with accidental magic.
Once Hermione has calmed somewhat, her breathing less labored than it had been several minutes prior, she looks up and meets Draco's still-worried gaze.
"Today is my anniversary," Hermione croaks, as if that is somehow enough information to understand why she is in Draco's home and not with Ron.
But of course, as he is wont to do, Draco understands Hermione even with her limited explanation.
"Please tell me that the redheaded wanker didn't stand you up– again," Draco grits, his free hand now braced on Hermione's shoulder, keeping her close.
Hermione sniffs and Draco expertly dabs at her cheek once more.
"I waited outside the restaurant for him for over an hour. He was supposed to meet me there."
Draco's eyes close for a moment and he breathes deeply, as if trying to keep his own emotions in check, before he reopens them and exhales.
"Come on," Draco states, taking Hermione's hand– which until this moment was still on his forearm– in his own and placing his handkerchief into it, tucking her fingers up over the fabric. "Milly should have supper prepared by now. I haven't eaten either. We'll eat together."
Hermione wants to fight Draco on this but she finds that she doesn't have the energy. She's tired after working all day and she's hungry after waiting over an hour for a man who didn't show– and Milly is a phenomenal cook– so she decides, instead, to just let it be.
When Draco and Hermione arrive in Draco's kitchen, the small elf is, indeed, just setting the table– with two place settings, as if she had expected that Hermione would be staying for dinner before the witch herself had even made that decision.
"Thank you, Milly," Draco says, stepping up to the dining table and pulling out the chair to the right of the head. It takes a moment for Hermione to realize that he's done this for her, but when she does, she hastily makes her way over and takes a seat.
Draco pushes Hermione's chair in and takes his own seat at the head of the table to her left, unfolding his serviette and draping it over his knee.
It occurs to Hermione that in the handful of moments since Draco last addressed Milly, that the elf has poured two glasses of red wine and then promptly made herself scarce.
"I'm sorry for imposing on your evening," Hermione frowns, now suddenly uncomfortable as she sits beside her colleague for the first time outside of work.
Draco– seemingly very purposefully– makes eye-contact with Hermione, his gray eyes boring into hers.
"You are not imposing on anything, Hermione," he states firmly– though his tone is soft– so as to make sure that there is no miscommunication in his words. "Let me be quite clear: You are welcome under this roof any time."
Hermione reaches for her wine glass in an effort to distract herself from the look on Draco's face, taking a sip and swallowing before responding.
"Thank you, Draco."
Hermione sets her fork down and dabs her lips with her serviette after she finishes the delicious meal which Milly had prepared for Draco and herself– and it hits her with a start that she now has to return home and deal with whatever fallout comes from telling Ronald that she has no intention of spending any part of the remainder of this evening with him.
"What's on your mind, Granger?" Draco asks, though Hermione has a sneaking suspicion that her emotions must be clearly displayed across her face for Draco to even ask such a question.
"I'm debating whether it would be more beneficial for me to stay at Harry and Ginny's tonight or to crash in my office at Mungo's."
Hermione isn't sure what made her be so honest with her colleague, but she thinks that perhaps it's a combination of the way that he's looking at her and the fact that she showed up at his home in tears, so he's already involved. She decides that she isn't going to regret being honest with Draco, though. In fact, she feels almost grateful that he was the person she unconsciously sought out in her upset.
"Personally, I am partial to your office sofa, but I have a better idea if you're interested in hearing it," Draco responds, relaxing back in his dining chair.
Hermione raises an eyebrow, urging her friend to continue.
"Stay here. There's a guest room upstairs. It's yours if you want it."
Hermione's eyes widen. For some reason, she hadn't expected that. She had expected that Draco Malfoy would suggest staying in an extortionately expensive hotel or something of the like– not offering up his own home for her to invade even more than she already has.
Hermione opens her mouth to protest that she simply couldn't, but Draco cuts her off.
"And I don't want to hear that you don't want to impose. You can't impose if something is being offered to you," Draco states, clearly anticipating Hermione's impending argument. "Ask Milly to pop over to yours and pack up anything you need for the night– or however long you'll be staying. She'll be happy to help you in any way that she can– and so am I."
Hermione bites her bottom lip. She knows that she should decline Draco's offer, however generous it may be. She should go to her office and spend the night there– she has to work tomorrow morning anyway– but she doesn't want to.
Hermione flits her eyes to her right where her beaded bag is sitting on the floor beside her, still packed for an emergency because old habits die hard. She wouldn't even need to ask Milly to get anything for her– she already has all of the essentials with her.
"You're considering it. Just say yes, Granger, and I'll show you to your room and how to operate the steam shower in the en suite. You've had a hard day. Let me do this for you," Draco states, meeting Hermione's eye with a seriousness she rarely sees from her (generally humorous and light-hearted) colleague and friend.
Hermione sighs. A small part of her still wants to argue that it's probably not a good idea for her to stay at Draco's tonight– but an even larger part of her wants to stay. So, in the end, she simply nods her agreement.
The steam shower in Draco's guest room en suite is absolutely heavenly and exactly what Hermione needs after the day she has had. Hermione's previously tense muscles have relaxed and her silk pajama shorts feel smooth and cooling against her skin, both of which seem to help ground her in the face of her otherwise difficult day.
Hermione lays her lavender dress out at the foot of the bed in Draco's guest room and frowns down at it, unsure if she'll be able to bring herself to wear it again after today. She decides that she won't worry about it tonight– that she'll just try to get some sleep and let tomorrow deal with itself.
A quiet knock snaps Hermione's attention to the bedroom door, and despite knowing that the person on the other side could really only be one man, she still furrows her brows in confusion.
Hermione crosses the room and opens the door, somewhat perplexed by the sight that greets her. Draco, dressed in a very Muggle white cotton t-shirt and plaid flannel pajama pants stands– with still-damp hair, presumably from a shower– in the doorway, a steaming mug of tea in his left hand.
"It's chamomile. It'll help you sleep," Draco states, holding the tea out for Hermione to take.
Hermione rests to her side against the doorframe and smiles a grateful smile at Draco, blowing on her tea for a moment before taking a sip.
"It's perfect. Thank you," Hermione whispers, looking up and meeting Draco's gaze through her lashes.
Draco tips his head in acknowledgement of her thanks as he stuffs his now-free hands into the pockets on his pajama pants.
"If you'd like, Milly can take care of your dress for you. She knows some truly wonderful dry-cleaning spells."
The corner of Hermione's lips dip into a frown.
"I bought it specifically for today. I might just bin it, so she shouldn't waste her time, but thank you for offering."
Draco seems to pause for a moment as if deciding what to say before he responds.
"You should keep it. It looks beautiful on you," the blonde wizard says, his voice soft. "Make today the last time that you let Weasley ruin something for you. Have Milly clean the dress and wear it again for you."
Hello, friends! Happy Sunday, technically. It's like 12:04 a.m. on Sunday as I'm writing this.
I apologize for not having this chapter up on Friday when it was supposed to go live, but FFN was having some sort of malfunction and I couldn't access the site on my laptop. The app seemed to be working fine, but the website wasn't. It was weird, but it seems that they have resolved themselves. I hope, lol.
In any case, hi! Here's chapter three of Love Ain't. I hope it was worth the wait, lol.
As always, thank you so much for spending a bit of your time here with me this week! Your support is more appreciated than you know. (:
If you feel so inclined, I would love it if you would leave a review. I love reading your thoughts, theories, opinions, observations and favorite parts of anything I write. (:
See you all again next week!