The Web Of Love

Hermione was coming home from work with a heavy heart knowing she would be home alone. At first, she went to see Draco, but he wasn't home, so she thought about going to visit Harry with Ginny, but then she realized it was too late. So she walked home, trying to convince herself she didn't mind. Anyway, she should finally get used to the fact that her life is a bit lonely. And besides, it's only one evening, she'll have Charlie with her tomorrow.

Even though she chose a very slow walking pace, her walk had to end eventually. Sighing, she unlocked the door to her apartment and was about to walk in when she was suddenly shoved in a little more roughly by a stranger's hand, and before she could even cry out in panic, her lips were covered by someone else's. And that allowed her to fight off her panic because she knew right away it was Draco.

"What are you doing here?" she asked a little out of breath as they had to pull away from each other slightly due to lack of oxygen.

Draco just stared at her silently and then brought their lips together again in a brief kiss before giving her an answer. "I was on my way home from Theo when I remembered you were home alone today, and I know how much you hate being home alone," he muttered, and was going to kiss her, but she pulled away this time.

"Theo's in London?" she yelped in surprise. She hadn't spent much time with him, but she'd taken a liking to him very quickly and was sorry he'd run away from them to France.

"Yes, but let's not talk about our wonderful Theodore right now," he said venomously, and before Hermione could ask what was wrong, he captured her lips in a kiss and pulled her as close as he could.

He needed her. It was the first time he had initiated it. It was the first time he needed her to banish the emptiness that had resided in him all his life. He needed her to drown out all the horrible words he and Theo had exchanged tonight. He had never seen his friend so angry before, and he feared for his life enough to risk disapparating under the influence of alcohol and prayed to Merlin that he wouldn't be missing a body part when he showed up at home. Luck was on his side this time, and when he teleported home in one piece, he took another shot of fire whiskey and teleported to Hermione without hesitation.

The brunette pulled away from him with a minor frown. "Are you drunk?" she asked confused. She wasn't a big fan of hard liquor, so it took her a while to process the strange taste she felt on his lips.

"Theo and I had a toast to his short visit, and then we kept drinking, and then we had a horrible fight, and I'm definitely not going to talk about it," he blurted out quickly and kissed her even faster to shut her up.

"At least I didn't run away to France like a coward!"

“Maybe you should if you can't control yourself! I don't get it, you always said how the family is everything, and then you do this crap to your own brother!"

"Blaise is not my brother, not by blood."

"Get out! You've made an awful lot of stupid decisions in your life, and Blaise and I have stood by your side the whole time. I don't think I've ever been angrier than I am right now. Get out and avoid me for the few days I'm here because I can't vouch for myself!"

Hermione didn't kiss him back like he'd imagined, and he still had to replay the argument with Theo in his head. He moved his lips to her neck instead, hoping he would finally get the reaction he expected from the first kiss. He had to make her stop thinking.

The brunette didn't return his last kiss too much because she had to think about what must have happened between them. Theodore was a relatively calm character and it was extremely difficult to provoke him into an argument. She knew Draco. She knew what he could be like, but she couldn't imagine what he had to do to get Theo to react like that. But none of that mattered as he began to kiss her neck and focus all his attention on her weak spot. She realized she wasn't the only one in need of comfort tonight. She wasn't the only one who needed to banish pain and emptiness. She therefore grabbed his cheeks and pulled him into a kiss.

She'll make sure he forgets, at least for tonight.

The morning was not pleasant. It never was. Because there were always regrets in the morning. In the morning, common sense finally spoke, which always disappeared as soon as their lips locked together. She didn't know why it was so hard to stay away from him. It seemed almost impossible, and she didn't know why and hated with all her heart when she didn't understand something.

She was sitting in the kitchen with a mug of coffee, waiting for Draco to wake up. Today was the first time he hadn't left her bedroom on time. She blamed it on the amount of alcohol that had flowed through his blood yesterday. She didn't like it. It was prolonging her regrets unnecessarily. She wanted him gone. She needed him gone so she could pretend it didn't happen.

It took him another ten minutes before he appeared sleepily in the kitchen. Hermione felt sorry for him when she saw his condition. They hadn't talked about Theo yesterday, so she still had no idea what the two of them had argued about, and even though she had practically nothing to do with it, she really wanted to know.

"Unfortunately, I don't have a hangover potion, so you'll have to make do with coffee," she whispered, pointing to a mug of coffee on the other side of the table. The coffee was probably already lukewarm, but that wasn't her fault. She expected him to show up at exactly seven like he always did.

Draco was surprised, but he didn't object and quietly sat down at the table.

"We need to talk," she told him as soon as he drank his coffee.

"And I, the fool, thought we would have a nice breakfast," he remarked sarcastically.

Hermione's heart sank. This was exactly what she wanted to avoid. She let it go further than it should have, and now she will have to face the consequences. All of them.

"I know I've said it several times, but this must not happen again. And this time, we have to stick to it -"

"What if I don't want to?" he cut her off bluntly.

She gave him a puzzled look. "What if you don't want what?"

"What if I don't want it to stop," he elaborated.

"This isn't about what anyone wants, it's about what's right," she reminded him as she tried to ignore his words. Why shouldn't he want it to stop? He had to know how bad it was.

"Sure, unless it's you, who wants something," he hissed venomously.

"What's the matter with you? Are you going back to your school days?” she asked, and her tone of voice wasn't particularly pleasant either.

"Sure, because then I had everything I wanted, and I didn't care if it was right or wrong!"

Hermione was seeing red. She didn't know what crossed him, but she definitely didn't want to remember their school years. "I would like my marriage not to fall apart, but unfortunately we can't always have what we want. And if I can't be a good wife to Blaise, I'll be a good friend to him. You should understand that, he's your friend too," she said coldly.

"Could you all stop talking about Blaise?" he yelled angrily and stood up from the table. "Blaise made his decision! I can't change his decision, so why should I be the bad guy for making a few of my own based on his?"

The brunette looked at him in silence, not knowing what he was talking about. But she didn't want to argue with him. She's had enough of that with Blaise.

“Just think about it, Draco. We are adults, and we should have some sense. Let's use it the next time we want to crawl into bed together. You owe him a lot. If it's not enough for you to stop sleeping with me out of pure respect for your friendship, take it as paying back the debt to him for pulling you out of the bottom that time," she sighed before walking out of the kitchen, hoping Draco would understand, that their conversation she is done and he should leave.

A few seconds later, there was a slam on the door, letting her know that he had left. And she could finally breathe. And after what he had just performed, she realized one thing.

 She was glad to be alone. For the first time since her divorce, she was glad for the silence around her.