Conventions, Clubs and Caresses

Wow, so, I leave a cliffie and those lurkers come out of the woodwork eh??

Thanks for the reviews, they definately spurred me into action to continue this story along. I'm thinkign another couple of chapters and I may put this one to bed so I can work on Days Beyond, that one is running down the dark path and I need to catch up with it.



Thanks to those who left reviews:

Alabaster: Sorry to be rude, but it had to be done. My muse was hungry and ya'll fed it well. Thanks for reading and reviewing.



Tori in Wonderland: Awww thanks, that was so nice of you to day.



ladymalfoy21: Okay, here you go.



sparkyCSI: 1/2 right, check it out.



IrishChic20: Okay, here you go, hopefully I didn't cause any permanent damage ;)



paigeey07: Now you'll know



Clare1984: What can I say, I look forward to reading your reviews. I love a wonferul mix of smut/fluff as well. What can I say?

I'll work on Days Beyond for you today.



Now, on with the show!





~*~



Hermione felt sick to her stomach. She needed to get out of there and fast. Quietly making her way towards the back door she spotted Draco walking in through the front. Her eyes catching his quickly, she nodded towards the back door with wide eyes.



Before she could take two steps, she heard her name being called out.



“Hermione Granger?”

Fear filled her senses as she slowly turned around to meet the voice calling out to her.



“Oh, Sara, hello how are you doing this evening” Trying to make small talk as she inched her way toward the doors.



Sara was one of her co-workers as well as a good friend of Ginny’s from Hogwarts.



“well, don’t you look fancy tonight, got a hot date?” She teased her, waggling her eyebrows. Everyone in the office knew Hermione didn’t date, yet they all saw the flowers come into the office today and were more than intrigued.



“No, no I was just saying the other day how I’d love to try out the food here, I heard it’s wonderful” She had made it, two more steps and she’d be out the back door.



“Hermione!”



Immediately her movements froze in place as her best friend called out to her from the front of the restaurant.



“Oh, my God, what are you doing here? Wait, is this where you’re meeting your mystery man for dinner? That’s wonderful, I finally get to meet him” Ginny winked at her and turned around, surveying the small restaurant trying to find the man that had completely thrown her best friend a curve ball in her non-existent love life.



Her eyes landing on the frozen figure near the front lobby, her fists clenching as her gaze gripped those steel grey eyes in affirm hold.



If looks could kill, he’d definitely by lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood right about now. The youngest weasel glared at him with such hatred, such contempt he could feel it all the way across the room, radiating off her in invisible waves as they pounded against his senses.



“what is ‘he’ doing here?” She asked through gritted teeth.



“well, Ginny, I’ve absolutely no idea, I mean, this is a public place after all” Hermione tried her best to keep her cool as she lied to her best friend. She chanced a glance in his direction as Ginny’s attention once again turned towards Draco, her eyes pleading with him not to say anything about them.



Draco began to turn and leave the restaurant, hopefully the littlest Weasle would let it go.



“Hold it right there” okay, so maybe she wouldn’t. He stopped in his tracks, but did not turn around.



“Hermione, are you trying to tell me, your Best Friend, that you have no idea as to why Draco Fucking Malfoy just walked into this restaurant” Ginny was seething with anger. She was not stupid and did not like being lied to.



“Now Ginny, please, just calm down. I, I can explain.” Hermione tried to calm her best friend, lying her hand on her arm, giving it a gentle squeeze.



“Explain? Explain! I knew it, I knew it the second I saw him he was here for you. I swear to everything holy and on Merlin’s bloody grave, Hermione Granger, if you weren’t my Best Friend I would hex you both into oblivion right now.”



Hermione’s eyes filled with tears, blurring her vision so all she could see was a fury of red before her.



“Ginny, come on, give the girl a break would ya?” Sara looked to Ginny with sad eyes.

“The girl has been through hell and you won’t allow her to be happy, no matter who it is with? Didn’t you tell me not half an hour ago that you were excited that she finally found someone to make her glow with giddiness on her weekend getaway? Why should it matter who it’s with, as long as she is happy” Sara tried to express her point as calmly as possible, knowing Ginny all too well, when her temper flared, everyone needed to step back and give her some room.



“Stay out of this Sara, you have no idea what that bastard did to my family” Ginny spit out vehemently.



“Now wait a minute, stop right there Ginerva Weasley!” Hermione scolded. “He did nothing to our family, nothing! He aided our side with useful information. He went against his own family to take that evil bastard down. He betrayed everything he was raised to believe in, for us. How is it his fault that those two idiots, who together barely formed a complete and functioning brain, came after Ronald. He never even saw those two after school or during the war. He was in hiding, in fear for his own life at what he was doing. Just because they were house mates in school, does NOT mean he ordered them to take Ron away from us” Her voice cracked every time she mentioned his name. Her heart still aching at the loss of her best friend.



“we all hurt from this, but Ginny, it’s time we moved on. You and Harry are happy now, no one can take that away from you, so please, I’m asking you as your friend, as your family, please let me move on with my life, let me have some happiness for once. I know it’s hard for you to understand, hell, I’m still coming to terms with it. You have to trust me, I’m a big girl and can make my own decisions. And if my decision is to be with Malfoy, then you need to leave it be.” Hermione dropped her head as tears streaked down her cheeks.



Ginny looked upon her best friend, saw her heart breaking and felt a stab of guilt in her chest. She did want Hermione to be happy. But why him? Didn’t she understand how much Ginny despised him, wanted him to suffer as she had suffered.



With a heavy sigh, Ginny walked to her table, grabbed her purse and silently made her way out of the restaurant.



Hermione looked to Sara standing there looking quite uneasy.



“Thanks Sara, I really appreciate it”



“Hey, no problem, as much as we love her, she really has to get over trying to rule over other peoples lives” she laughed softly as she leaned in and gave Hermione a quick hug, whispering in her ear “that man is HOT! Do not let that one go”



Grinning ear to ear, Sara sauntered over to the table, picked up the check and made her way to the front door, stopping briefly beside Draco.



“Hurt her and you’ll be very sorry”



Draco made his way over the Hermione just as her knees gave out. Catching her and directing her over to the booth he sat her down and kneeled in front of her, taking her small hands in his.



“Are you okay?” he asked softly.



“I will be, I just don’t want to lose my best friend over this, you know” She couldn’t look him in the eyes. She did not want to have to choose between the two. As much as she loved Ginny, she knew her feelings for Draco were getting stronger. Hopefully Ginny would come to an understanding soon, because as she saw it, her future was going to with Draco Malfoy. ‘Whoa, were did that come from?’



“Draco, I really don’t feel up to eating, can we just go somewhere, can you just be with me, hold me?”



~*~



A/N: Okay, so now you know it was Ginny and Sara. Harry still has 3 weeks 'til he's done with camp. Just wait 'til he finds out, you think Ginny's upset?

Thanks again for reading and reviewing!!!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!