Chapter 15
Draco and Hermione arrived together at the Three Broomsticks. She knew it wouldn’t feel as comfortable as she usually was when she hung out with Ron and Harry, but still, she felt like having a Butterbeer with Malfoy. As they entered, Madame Rosmerta greeted Hermione with the happiest smile she had ever seen, followed by a confused look when she saw she was accompanied by Malfoy.
“Hello, sweetie.”, she said. “A table for two, I assume?”
“Indeed.”, replied Hermione.
“Sorry to bother you, but I need to be sure. Are you alright?, she looked concerned. Hermione smiled and got closer to the bar.
“He’s not as bad as we all thought.”, she said. “We get along quite well.”
Rosmerta smiled back. “Well then, take the table at the back, so you two can have a bit more privacy.” Before Hermione could complain, her face was already red and Madame Rosmerta was on her way to attend some other customers.
Hermione walked Malfoy to the back of the inn, and they both sat there, comfortably hidden from most of the customers. “I’ve been here once before”, he said while looking around, “the place is quite charming.”
She smiled back at him. “I suppose it is.”, she raised her hand and called a waiter. “Two butterbeers, please.” The tall young man quickly took their order and left to the bar.
“Are you a regular here?” Malfoy asked, intrigued. “I didn’t know you were such a drinker, Granger.”, he smirked.
“I’m not.”, she complained. “But sometimes, I like to relax and have one, you know?”
They kept talking and once the waiter served them their butterbeers they began to drink, they talked about many things, the main and most important topic being the upcoming NEWT’s.
“What do you want to be once we finish school?”, asked Hermione, quite intrigued.
“An Auror, I believe.”, he said. “What about you?”
Hermione thought for a few seconds, “I’m not sure yet. I thought maybe I could get into the investigation department of the Ministry.”
“Suits you right.”, he replied, smiling.
Three butterbeers after, Hermione was quite tipsy. Malfoy on the other hand, was composed as if he hadn’t drunk anything but water. “I’ll go to the toilet.”, said Hermione. She noticed her composure was not as neat as always, as she found herself staggering all the way.
She entered the women’s toilet and got inside a cubicle. As she finished peeing, she heard a familiar voice.
“Have you seen him?”, Pansy Parkinson was saying. “What is he doing here?”
“Maybe he’s with the mudblood.”, joked another voice. Daphne Greengrass, another witch from Slytherin and probably the only female friend Parkinson had.
“I dare you to say it again, Daphne.”, said Parkinson, threatening her friend. “Once more, and I’ll feed your tongue to the acromantulas of the forbidden forest.
Greengrass laughed. “Theo might be right, you know?”, she replied. “Draco probably hates you now. Your stupid little trick only helped him get more into Granger.”
“It wasn’t a trick, it was a well made plan”, replied Pansy. “You already know that. And, it was supposed to work. I didn’t expect her to eat his food.”
There was no answer, but Pansy continued. “And Theo should shut up, what does he think he is, mudblood’s advocate? Now he likes her, he finds her to be a good match. Bastard, he self-proclaims himself to be Draco’s best friend and he ships him with a muggle born.”
“What I’m saying.”, replied her friend. “Is that Theo is the one who knows him best, and after what you’ve done, it’s logical that Malfoy couldn’t stand the sight of you. I mean, think about it, Pans, what would you do if Greg tried to feed you Amortentia?”
“Are you fucking comparing me with Gregory Goyle?”, yelled Pansy.
“Okay sorry, Blaise?”, corrected her friend.
“Disgusted.”, replied Pansy.
“Then, there’s your answer.”, said Greengrass as they left the women’s bathroom.
Hermione waited until there was not a single sound and wished she had borrowed Harry’s cloak in a moment like this. A part of her was still surprised to hear that Theodore Nott shipped her and Malfoy, it was something quite unexpected.
As she walked unsteadily back to her table, she caught sight of a worried Malfoy. Worried, yet handsome. He quickly got sight of her and got up, walking towards her.
“Are you alright?”, he said, grabbing her arm.
“Just tipsy, but yeah.”
His expression relaxed. “I heard Pansy and Daphne coming from the women’s bathroom and I thought maybe they’ve done something to you.”
“They didn’t see me.”, Hermione explained. “Thankfully.”
He let out his breath. “Well, they’ve already left. We should get back too.”
“Not one more?”, she pleaded.
He shook his head as he smiled. “Not tonight, Granger, or you’ll be the brightest and drunkest witch of your age.”
Hermione didn’t realise how drunk she actually was until she sat on his broom, ready to fly back to the castle. “I can’t do this.”, she said.
Malfoy quickly checked her posture. “You’re too drunk aren’t you?”
She nodded. “Can’t we floo? I’m sure if I fly in this condition I’ll end up pucking you.”
He laughed and feigned a gag. “Deal. I prefer ashes rather than vomit.”
With Malfoy’s hand placed steadily on her lower back, Hermione walked towards the floo.
They came out on one of the hallways of the castle, thankfully, far away from intruding eyes. She insisted she could walk on her own, but he denied leaving her in that state.
“It’s not that I find you incapable of defending yourself, but I’d rather not leave you in this state, at this hour.”, he said. Hermione felt her heart warming up at the comment, but she pouted and grabbed his arm.
They walked along the corridor until they reached the one connecting with the passage leading to the Gryffindor Common Room. While they were walking, they heard a loud noise coming from the common room. Instinctively, Draco pushed her into one of the small passages, hiding from sight.
“You can’t do this, Ginevra.”, yelled Ron. “You’re definitely NOT going to do it. I’ll tell mom if necessary. I’m going to have a family meeting on this matter.”
Ginny’s laughter echoed along the castle. Hermione, even as drunk as she was, could notice the amount of rage condensed in Ginny’s voice.
“You?”, she laughed. “Do it.”. There was no answer from her brother, “I dare you to do it, Ronald. Let’s have a bloody family meeting so you can rampage of how much of a whore I am for dating Harry behind your back, and I can finally tell everyone how much of a dickhead prick you are, cheating on the most fucking brilliant woman you could’ve ever wished for.”
“I - I didn’t”, stuttered Ron. “And it’s not like she’s mourning my loss, she’s happy drooling over that bloody snake.”
“She might as well do it.”, Harry’s voice intervened from a far. “Ronald, you had your chance and you ruined it, there’s not much you can do about it now. Hermione is free to spend her time with whoever she choses and not you, nor me, not anyone has the right to call her off.”
Ron grumbled. “Traitor.”
Then, the sound of a slap. A strong slap.
“Say that again, Ronald.”, Ginny’s firm voice threatened. “Say it again and I won’t hesitate on hexing the hell out of you. You’ve changed, you’re no longer the friend or brother you used to be. You’ll end up alone, you know that? It’s a matter of time until Brown realises you’re not even worth the trouble.”
“You are my little sister, and you should respect me, Ginevra.”, he replied.
“If you want respect, you should pay attention to your own actions first.”, her voice was fading away in the distance. “And by the way, Fred and George already know about us, and they root for us.”
Hermione and Draco stared at each other in a sort of complicity. Malfoy’s head kept spinning around what the weasel had said about them, while Granger worried about Ron’s actions
After two or three minutes, Ron passed by their side, thankfully not noticing their presence in that small passage. Once the hall was clear, Draco accompanied her to the entrance.
The Fat Lady greeted Hermione with a smile, but her face changed completely at the sight of Malfoy, she was completely in awe of his presence.
“You again!”, she said while looking at Granger. “Lovely boy you’ve chosen to replace that poor wreck.”
“I didn’t.”, said Hermione, placing her hand on the Lady’s frame.
“Ohhhh, someone’s a bit drunk.”, smirked the Lady. “Someone who usually follows all rules, is entirely drunk. I can sense the butterbeer pouring from your pores, my dear.”
Draco smiled at the Lady’s comment, but she looked at him with judging eyes.
“I’m sorry my boy, but you’re not getting away with it. If you’re responsible for this mess, you should be the one taking care of her up until the end. I don’t want a single stain of vomit on my precious common room carpeted floor.”, she said.
Before Hermione could complain, or Draco could argue that it would be even worse if someone found him with her in that state, The Lady opened her passage and sent them in.
Draco walked her until they got to her bedroom. He expected her to leave him, to release her hand from his, but she didn’t. They were alone, he knew that and she would probably know that too, but was there any possibility she didn’t care about it? He was nervous.
Hermione’s head was spinning, she was trying so hard to appear sober that she didn’t realise her hand was grabbing Draco’s tightly. They were alone, she knew that perfectly well, but she wasn’t ready to let him leave.
“Sorry, could you… just stay?”, she finally asked. “Just for a while.”
“Sure.”, he walked her in. “Are you sure you don’t mind me being here?”
“Not if you don’t.”, she replied. “Besides, you’ve been here. You spied on my box of memories.”
“I didn’t spy.”, replied Draco, offended.
“You did.”, she said. “My box, the one with pictures. You looked at my picture with Krum.”
Caught red handed, Malfoy didn’t know what to say. “Oh, those.”
“Was it true?”, she asked. Now she had released her hair, which was all over her shoulders like one brown cascade of curls. She was sitting on the bed taking off her sneakers.
“What?”, he asked back. “That I looked at that picture, yes.”
She giggled. “Not that, you idiot.”, she extended her whole arm to grab a brush from her bedside table, almost falling in the process. “I mean what you said at the yule ball.”
There was silence. Draco was trying to remember his exact words.
“Nevermind.”, she continued.
“Listen, Victor Krum asked you out because you’re not only interesting and intelligent, he asked you out because you are, indeed, a pretty girl.”, he said while standing up. “And I’m the one saying it, a foul, loathsome and evil little cockroach.”
Draco remembered the moment, he remembered her beautiful pink dress, her hair tied up in the most precious hairstyle, her shoes laying on the stairs and her face covered in tears. He also remembered her smile after his comment, after he told her she was pretty.
“I did mean it.”, he replied.
She looked at him, her feet awkwardly moving on the carpet. She didn’t know what to say now, she wasn’t expecting him to actually remember or else, agree to it.
“You were beautiful, that night.”, he continued. “You still are, but back then I was so… jealous, so self-absorbed. I hated liking you.”, he walked towards her and sat by her side on the bed. “All I could think of was Krum and you, and I didn’t know if I should be jealous of him, or happy because I’d finally be over you. Then I saw you crying, and my whole facade fell apart. I wanted you to smile.”
Hermione was astonished. She wasn’t sure what to say, or what to even think about it.
“You liked me..”, she said, clinging onto his words.
He nodded. His hand met her hand, resting on the mattress. “Call me an idiot, but the moment you punched me in the face I think you broke something inside me.”
She giggled. “When I punched you?”
He nodded again. “You were… I don’t know. Such a powerful being, a different creature.”
She tried to get closer and almost fell on him, he helped her steady. “Are you making fun of me, Malfoy?”, she asked quite seriously. He looked at her with a confused expression.
“Ever since we’ve gotten closer, I’ve been wondering about it. Is this real? Are you actually this gentlemanly boy? Every day I wonder when will you finally tell me it was all a cruel joke.”
He sat there in silence. She continued. “And I’m scared. Scared of falling for someone who’s lying, scared of finding out this new Draco Malfoy isn’t real.”
“I am real, Granger.”, he replied. “Hermione, this is me. You already know me more than my closest friends. I’m scared too. I don’t know why you’ve given me the chance to be this close, I don’t get it, I have nightmares where I wake up and realise this was all a dream.”
Hermione was crying and Draco’s hands were trembling. They were both drunk, they knew it and they knew that if it wasn’t for all the alcohol inside their system, they wouldn’t be saying all these things. Their bodies were close, they both could feel each other’s warmth.
“Draco?”, she finally said after a few moments of silence.
“Hm?”, he waited for her to continue.
“Kiss me.”
Their lips met in a kiss that lasted a few minutes. It wasn’t a lustful kiss, they were both in need of closeness and that kiss was just a way to feel less lonely. He didn’t go any further, neither did she. They let go of that kiss and hugged each other, until they finally fell asleep.