Get A Room
“Merlin’s beard.” Blaise stuttered as the heavy doors slammed behind Granger, a stunned silence descending on the ballroom. Pansy was sarcastically fanning herself with her hand, and Blaise slapped her arm gently, getting her to stop.
“Gregory, might you go after your girlfriend?” Narcissa said weakly, gesturing towards the door.
Greg frowned. “My what? Granger isn’t my girlfriend.”
Draco whirled on him. “She’s not?” He asked, feeling Blaise’s eyes on him.
“Of course not. She’s just been helping me with…er…something.” He rubbed his arm sheepishly, but Draco didn’t have it in him to care that his friend was obviously hiding something. He wasn’t dating Granger. Draco had almost married someone else tonight, thinking his chance with her had gone. It made him feel sick. He shared a look with Blaise, who nodded at him subtly.
“My dragon, what’s wrong?” His mother asked, genuine concern in her eyes. Whatever Granger might have said about her, his mother did care deeply for her family. This was the woman that had lied to the Dark Lord’s face to keep him safe, the woman that had threatened Lucius, despite him being in Azkaban, to renounce his position as head of the family so the magic would pass down to Draco early. Nobody ever questioned her. Not until now.
“I’ve made a mistake, Mother. I need to go and fix it.” He replied, and she studied his face for a moment, before smiling sadly.
“I suppose I should send everyone home then?” She raised an eyebrow, and he kissed her cheek gently before heading for the doors, letting that be his answer.
It was all he could do to keep from running as he made his way through the winding Manor hallways. A bang coming from his own room caught his attention, and he deviated for a moment, sticking his head around the door. The unwelcome sight of Potter’s bare arse quickly burnt itself into his brain, and he left before they noticed he’d caught them. He made a mental note to have a stern word with Theo tomorrow.
Reaching Scorpius’ room, he took a deep breath before pushing open the door. It was a scene he’d dreamt about more times than he cared to admit, seeing Granger reading to his son, the young boy curled up next to her. It had been torture watching her all night, not allowing himself to talk to her. He hadn’t wanted to make a fool of himself, and not trusting his mouth, he’d resolved to avoid her completely. As it turned out, he’d made a fool of himself anyway, and had neglected his son in the process.
“Choose someone yet?” Granger asked quietly, as Scorpius' eyes fluttered, somewhere between awake and asleep. Her tone cut through him like a knife, and he shrugged.
“Yes and no. Depends on how this goes.” He replied, and she raised an eyebrow. Placing the book on the nightstand, she extracted her arm out from underneath Scorp and slowly stood up. She gestured for him to follow her, and he nodded, taking another look at his son. He hadn’t realised that tonight had upset him so much, but he could see evidence of tears on his cheeks and it made his heart ache. The one thing he tried not to do was let his son down, and he’d done just that. He rubbed his face, and then followed Granger out into the hall. She cast a muffliato, showing more of her wandless prowess, and crossed her arms.
“So?” She prompted.
“I thought you were dating Greg.” He said, and she blinked.
“What?”
“I saw the Prophet and I should have just asked either of you but I didn’t, I just believed what I saw. I’m sorry.”
“What does that have to do with tonight? You’ve lost me completely, Malfoy.” She said, confusion painted across her beautiful features.
“My mother has been wanting me to find somebody new for a while. She just worries that I’m lonely, it’s not for any other reason. I’ve always refused her help, but once I saw that you were with Greg, I figured there wasn’t a reason to say no to her anymore.” He replied quietly, looking down at the floor.
“What are you saying?” She asked slowly. He looked back at her.
“I really like you. I have done for ages. A stupid, ridiculous amount of time where I’ve done nothing about it. It was just always us, it was simple. We’d do things together, with Scorp or without him, and I liked it like that. Then I saw you were dating Greg, and I thought that I’d lost my chance, if I’d even had one in the first place.” Her eyes went wide as she stared up at him, and he ploughed on. “So I said yes to tonight, because I couldn’t just sit and watch you be with someone else. I thought it would be a distraction. I never wanted to upset Scorp, and I’m so ashamed that I didn’t notice that I had. I promised him that I’d always be there, and I haven’t been.” His throat tightened, and he swallowed heavily. Granger continued to stare at him. “Say something.” He whispered, and she blinked.
“I’m not dating Goyle.” She croaked, and he scoffed.
“Yeah, I know. He just told me.”
“He’s dating a muggle called Lizzie. He asked for my advice.” She murmured, and Draco huffed out an incredulous laugh. “I’m going to be his sponsor so he can tell her about magic and everything.” She added, rambling slightly. Something she only did, he knew, when she was nervous.
“It’s nice of you to help them like that.” He replied, and she nodded.
“Is that why you were staring at me all night? Because I was talking to Goyle?” He winced, embarrassed to find out that she’d noticed.
“It was. I’m sorry, it’s stupid. I just-”
“Do you know what it was like to have to watch you dance with every single witch in the room but me? To have you blatantly ignore me, and not have a single clue as to what it was that I’d done wrong?” She asked suddenly, and he baulked.
“What?”
“We’re supposed to be intelligent people, Malfoy. How are we both such idiots?” She exclaimed, swaying on her heels.
“Granger, I-”
“I like you. A lot. And Scorpius. I got so annoyed tonight because I thought you were going to marry somebody you were completely indifferent about just to find him a mother. It hurt me because I’m already here. I’ve been here. I thought that I might be…Could be…” She trailed off as Draco’s heart sprouted wings and fluttered off into the sky. Before he could talk himself out of it, as he wasn’t typically an impulsive person, he gently took her face in his hands and kissed her. It only took a second before she kissed him back, fisting his shirt in her hand. He pulled back, resting his forehead against hers.
“I want you to be. I’d like that.” He whispered, and she beamed up at him. He suddenly realised just how wrong he’d been about the photo in the Prophet. The way she’d looked at Goyle was completely different to the way she was looking at him. If he had anything to do with it, he’d ensure that it was only him that she’d ever look at like this. “What are you doing for Christmas?” He asked her suddenly and she laughed.
“Nothing. Why?” She smiled, and he reached for her hands.
“Spend it with us. Me and Scorp. Please.”
“I’d love to.” She replied, and he smiled widely. She then gasped, and stepped back, pressing a hand to her forehead. “Gods, I need to apologise to your mother.”
He laughed. “You don’t. She hates the way people are never honest with her. It will have bought you serious points, Granger.”
“Still Granger, am I?” She looked at him, and he pulled her into a hug.
“For now.” He said, resting his chin on her head.
“You’re ridiculous.” She snickered into his chest.
“Oi! Get a room!” Theo hollered down the corridor. Draco observed his dishevelled appearance and the way he was gripping Potter’s hand and smiled.
“You’ve just shagged in my bedroom, Theo, you can piss off.” He called back, and heard the two of them laugh as they descended the stairs.
“Harry was in your room?” Granger asked, looking up at him.
“I really don’t want to dwell on the things I’ve seen tonight.” He replied, grimacing. She laughed.
“So. What now?” She asked, and he hummed thoughtfully.
“Whatever you want.” He replied.
“Are you going to be this cheesy forever?” She frowned, and he wrapped an arm around her.
“Absolutely.” He said, kissing the crown of her head as he spotted Scorp’s door opening. He crouched immediately, opening his arms for a hug. His son ran at him, and he picked him up, spinning the boy around. “I’m sorry about tonight, Scorp. It will never happen again, I promise.”
“But who did you pick? Grandma said you had to.” He said, his arms wrapped around his neck. Draco smiled.
“How would you feel if it was you, me, and Mione?” He asked, laughing as his son’s face lit up. Granger smiled at the two of them, her head tilted.
“I’d like that. She does the voices properly when we do stories.” Scorpius said, and both adults laughed.
“Nice to know my worth.” She commented, brushing Scorp’s hair out of his face. She glanced up at Draco. “You might be the most dramatic man I’ve ever met.”
He smiled, somewhat guiltily. “I’ll work on it.”
“See that you do.” She replied.