The Web Of Love

Sitting in a cozy coffee shop in Muggle London, Hermione tapped her fingers nervously on the table as she hypnotized the level of the coffee with her gaze. She decided on this place mainly because she didn't know what to expect from Draco, and that's why she wanted to be on home ground. 

Someone cleared her throat next to her, and with a somewhat dreamy expression, she raised her head to look into familiar light gray eyes. There was so much emotion reflected in them that it would have forced her to sit down if she wasn't already sitting. It looked like they were in for a pretty tough conversation, and she honestly had no idea if she was ready for it. After their last conversation in Diagon Alley, she was quite relieved, because even though it didn't solve anything, she kind of closed it inside herself. Perhaps Draco did the same?

"Hi," she breathed out as she realized she still hadn't said anything.

The blond just nodded his greeting and sat down a little hesitantly across from her. He didn't say anything though, which made Hermione let out a small sigh. She didn't want to push him, but she didn't have all day for this. And besides, he was the one who wanted to talk to her, so why was he silent now... That was all Draco. She seriously hoped it wasn't one of his tricks, even though the look on his face made it clear it wasn't, which at least reassured her a little.

"If you want to talk, you're going to have to actually start talking," she prompted softly as he ordered his coffee.

He nodded again but still said nothing.

The brunette was starting to feel a bit uneasy. This was not his typical behavior. "If you don't know where to start, just pick something up," she tried to advise him.

A third nod. Hermione swore she would punch him in the nose if he nodded one more time. She did feel sorry for him, but you only have a certain amount of patience when it comes to Malfoy. And hers has kind of thinned out lately.

"I don't know what's going on with me," he admitted in a rather quiet voice that was definitely unusual for him.

“What do you mean?” she asked with a small frown on her forehead, knowing that she had to be careful.

"That's the thing. I don't know," he answered vaguely, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "There are two parts of me fighting, and after yesterday it seems that the more reasonable one is winning for now, so that's why we're having this conversation."

"And why are the two parts of you fighting?" she asked to help him a little. She herself knew very well what it was like to have an internal battle. Nothing pleasant. Hermione often would have preferred to fight for real, but she was done with that, so she should stop thinking about it.

"Because of you," he said, looking her straight in the eye, which she couldn't bear and looked away. "When I saw you at the party yesterday, I realized that I'd like to go back in time and make sure you and Blaise never divorce. I remembered that I too, believed that your divorce would not last long. Until we slept together, I had no doubt that you would get back together," he confided to her, and hope rose within her.

“And the other part of you?” she swallowed hard, knowing that her glimmer of hope would be extinguished very quickly.

“The other one would like to go back a little further into the past and stop you from starting to date Blaise. I would make sure not to act like a jerk and show you my irresistible side. You would be mine. Only mine," he said in a slightly deeper voice, and she couldn't help but notice that for that little moment, all the emotions reflected in his face disappeared.

A chill ran down her spine, which she successfully ignored, and this time she looked into his eyes. "The thing is, I still don't understand why. Why would you want this? Do you love me?” she asked directly because she had been beating around the bush for too long.

Like her before, Draco looked away. And that was the answer enough for Hermione. He didn't love her. Of course not. So why was he so fixated on the idea of the two of them together? Was it because they were missing something at the time and both were taking it from the other completely selfishly?

“I have to know, if you hadn't married Blaise, would we have a chance now?” he asked instead of answering, confusing her a little.

She wanted to say no but changed her mind. He was honest with her, so she should be with him. So she thought about it for a moment. The chemistry between them was there and he was attractive and intelligent and when he wasn't acting like Malfoy she enjoyed the time they spent together. "I can't say for sure, but maybe we would."

"But you married Blaise," he sighed.

"It doesn't matter, Draco. You don't love me, you're fixating on something you don't even want," she tried to explain to him. He told her several times that he didn't want to be tied to anyone.

"How do we solve this Hermione?" he asked almost desperately, which broke her heart.

She grabbed his hand. "I don't know, but we'll figure it out. You could go to France with Theo for a while. Maybe spending time away from me will help you," she suggested.

"I don't want to go to France. I like London," he protested immediately.

"I only said for a while, not forever."

"I won't go there. Let's just go back to being friends," he decided.

The brunette gave him a look and properly sorted out her next words in her head. "And can you do it? Because I wanted it many times, but you kept insisting on things. I never thought I'd say this, but I value our friendship and I don't want to lose it. However, if your other part should prevail over you, I don't know if we have hope. Like I said, I've had enough arguing with Blaise."

"I'll try, I promise," he promised her.

Hermione thought about it for a moment. She knew she couldn't get anything better now, so she knew she would have to go back to fighting after all. Because some things were worth fighting for. Like for friendship, for example. It scared her that they still had a long way to go before things could go back to normal, but it was her fault too, so she had to suffer the consequences.

"If you'd like, you can join me and Charlie for Wednesday's game," she offered, as they had to start rebuilding their friendship somehow. And as she thought about it, she hoped she'd got the lecture. He will never start anything with his friends again because it just ruins the friendship.

"But you don't like Quidditch," he objected uncomprehendingly.

She couldn't help but roll her eyes. “It's not that I inherently hate the game, as long as I'm not the one who has to get on the broom, I don't mind. Tom invited us, I wasn't quite sure, but he promised Charlie he'd catch a golden snitch for him and now he insists we have to go. I don't even want to be there when Tom explains to him that he can't take the snitch home after the game," she explained with a little amusement before catching his eye. This is going to be a rough way, she thought.

“And before you say anything, there never was anything between me and Tom and there never will be anything. He's my friend just like you, Ron, Harry, Theo etc, etc," she said with a sigh.

"I didn't say anything," he defended himself.

“Your face did it for you. It's simple, do you want to go or don't you want to go?"

"I'd love to," he replied simply, trying to shake off the thought that this would at least give him a close look at the famous Tom Gray.