Hermione and Draco

Disclaimer: These characters are not of my creation (I wish!). Everything belongs to JK Rowling, I'm just delving into the Pensieve and playing around with the memories a little!

Chapter 4 – And Along Came Harry – And Ginny

“Harry! What are you doing?!” Hermione squealed.

“Oh, uh… sorry,” Harry hesitated.

“Well, come on in, Harry.” Draco said, exasperated. Well, the truth would be out now. “This isn’t exactly as I would have expected us to receive you, but, well, you’re here now.”

“Sorry,” Harry apologized again, as the rest of him stepped through. “I wasn’t expecting to interrupt anything, I was just checking in on Hermione – to see how she was feeling.” He snickered at both of them. “I guess she’s feeling alright, huh?”

Hermione and Draco blushed, and then they looked at each other and laughed

“Yeah, Harry, you could say that,” laughed Hermione. “Please don’t tell anyone else, I want to be the one that does that.”

“We want to be the ones to do that,” amended Draco, smiling at the woman sharing his bed.

Hermione just looked up into Draco’s eyes and glowed.

Harry raised an eyebrow at them both. “So, it’s official, then? You are a ‘we’ now? Well… good!” he laughed, at first because he was happy they had found each other, then because of the startled and shocked look on their faces.

“I won’t lie, Hermione - I am disappointed that things didn’t work out between you and Ron,” when he saw her and Draco’s faces fall, he chuckled again. “Not for you, for Ron. But now that I’ve seen you with Draco – in more ways than I ever wanted to –“

“Boy, you can say that again!” screeched a voice from behind Harry.

As the three that were already in the room turned to look at the newest member of the group in the bedroom, Draco groaned and rolled his eyes. Will everyone end up in his bedroom tonight?

“Ginny! I told you that I’d be right back!” said Harry. “Go home, I’ll tell you all about it later.”

“Oh, no you don’t!” squealed Ginny. “I want it straight from the horses’ mouths!”

Hermione turned an amused glance at Draco, to see his exasperation growing. “Love, I know it’s a lot to ask, but they are my best friends and they were worried about me. The quicker we can show them that everything is fine, the quicker they’ll go home!” she leered at Draco up and down.

Draco quirked an eyebrow at the leer, and smiled. “Sorry, I’m just not used to this – friendship thing. I mean real friendship. Slytherins and Death Eaters don’t do real friends.”

Draco turned to their two uninvited guests and noted their twinkling eyes. “Well, since you are here already, and want the story, why don’t you two retire to the living room, and Mya and I will be there in a moment – after we get – ah, cleaned up a bit.”

Harry and Ginny blushed furiously and it was Draco and Hermione’s turn to laugh at them.

“Alright, honey, let’s give them a little privacy to get put together.” Harry wrapped his wife in an arm and led her from the room.

*************

“Interfering little …” Hermione was very upset. Not mad, quite, but a little embarrassed, and discomfited that she wasn’t the one that was able to bring this new situation to her friends.

Draco turned to her, “Don’t worry about it. I should have expected that they were going to be worried about you. I’ll try to find something of mine that will fit you enough to cover you up and I’ll pull on my pajamas again.” He looked at her then, with wounded eyes, like he expected her to denounce what had happened between them to her friends.

“Oh, my poor love,” Hermione crooned at him. “Why do you have such sad eyes?” She slipped an arm around his shoulders.

“Mya,” he began. “I’m so afraid that you’re going to regret what happened – I’m so afraid that you won’t want to – to tell them what happened between us.”

“Draco, I’m afraid too – but not of what happened, not of my love for you, or your love for me. Just that not everyone will be as happy about it as we are… that’s all. I don’t want to keep us a secret. I love you too much for that.”

Draco took in a deep, steadying breath. “I’m sorry to go all willy on you. I’m just not used to – well – caring about anyone. I’m more used to not showing my weaknesses to others, of trying to find their weaknesses to exploit.”

Hermione giggled. “Well, you silly goose. I know that, we did go to school together, remember? I was scared that it was you that wouldn’t want anyone to know – especially my friends!”

Draco took her into his arms and kissed her rather seriously. When he pulled away, she was completely breathless.

“Okay, well, now we know what we’re afraid of. Shall we get dressed and go face it – together?”

He smiled with heart-stopping sweetness when she took hold of his hand. “Yes – together.”

He climbed out of bed and went to the closet looking for something she could wear. He found a t-shirt and pair of old boxers that would fit her, and he pulled on his pajamas and wrapped the robe that she had been wearing around him, then pulled a similar one in periwinkle blue out of the back of the closet for her.

She smiled up at him impishly when he handed her the clothes for her to wear. She crawled out of bed, turned her back on him, and bent over slowly, to put on the boxers.

It was all he could do not to throw her on the bed. As it was, he took a step forward, so she was rubbing against his hard length, and they both moaned.

There was an explosion of laughter outside the room.

“Alright you perverts,” called Draco. “We’re on our way out!”

Pulling Hermione into his arms, he gave her a slow kiss, and they walked out of the room. Together.

*************

Harry and Ginny stood in the hallway, waiting for Hermione and Draco to come out. They could hear what was being said, and they both raised eyebrows at what Draco said. They were both impressed that the Crown Prince of Slytherin would admit anything like that.

They put their arms around each other, wondering what was going to happen when everyone found out about them.

“Ron is going to turn permanently purple with rage,” whispered Ginny, stifling a giggle. “And if he doesn’t make a try to get Hermione back and/or get back at Draco, I’ll be very surprised. We need to figure out a way to keep him away from them.”

Harry nodded his agreement. He knew that what his lovely wife said was true – he also knew that if Hermione felt Ron threatened her and Draco she’d take action. And that could end up tragic, for everyone.

Just then the Potters heard two identical moans, they looked at each other, blushing from hearing something so private between the new couple, and laughed at the looks at each other’s face.

Hearing Draco’s comments, they blushed more, and headed to the living room.

*************

Draco and Hermione joined the Potter couple in Draco’s living room to try and explain exactly what happened.

Harry saw the piano and raised an eyebrow to Draco.

“One of my few secrets, Harry,” smirked Draco. “I love muggle music – so I bought a piano and learned how to play – along with a few other instruments. Hermione quite appreciated it earlier, let me tell you!”

“Draco!” exclaimed Hermione with a punch to his arm. “They don’t need to know what led up to my being in your bed!” When she realized what she’d just said, she blushed a brilliant crimson.

“Well, love, we were going to tell them what happened,” Draco looked at her with smoldering eyes. “So why don’t you tell them what happened. You can tell them everything, if you want.”

“Are you sure – even about when you…?”

“Yes, Mya – even about that. It might make they understand a little more.”

“Okay, here goes,” sighed Hermione. “But if either one of you uses the information that I’m about to relate to you in any way to embarrass me or Draco, I’ll put the Jelly-Legs curse on you and make it permanent!”

“We promise, Mya,” said Ginny soberly. “We won’t use it to embarrass either of you – unless it’s just the four of us! I mean, if best friends can’t tease each other, who can?” Ginny looked at her husband as she said the last, and Harry nodded at her, then at the new couple.

Draco’s eyes widened at being referred to as a best friend. A friend, he could understand – but a “best” friend? It was more than he ever hoped for, more than he could ask for! This time, the acceptance and love for him that was obviously coming in from all around him was too much and Draco broke down as the emotional walls he had so carefully kept up for so long crumbled around him. He blindly turned into Hermione’s shoulder and started to cry quietly.

Harry and Ginny looked at Draco’s head in Hermione’s shoulder in surprise. This isn’t what they thought would happen! Draco actually showing that he was a wounded child, with wounded emotions.

Ginny moved to the other side of Draco and put her arm around his shoulders.

“Come one, Draco – did you really think we wouldn’t think of you as a friend – a best friend – after everything you did for Hermione tonight – or should I say last night?” Harry asked.

Draco raised his head off of Hermione’s and looked in her eyes. He needed to tell her – them – about everything that had been done to him while he was growing up. He needed to have someone else know, someone that might give him sympathy.

Draco looked up to Harry and then to Ginny, sitting next to him. There were tears in his eyes and on his cheeks. They were so surprised, that Harry didn’t think about it when he asked, “Draco! What’s wrong? Is there something that I can do to help?”

Two more tears rolled down Draco’s cheeks as Harry asked that, and Hermione and Ginny both squeezed his shoulders. He squeezed his eyes shut and fought for control of his emotions. He finally was able to get them under his control, but barely.

“Ginny… Harry… thank you both so much for thinking of me like that.” He took in a shuddering breath. “I’m sorry to go all pussy on you, but this is something I’ve never experienced before. People caring about me – not just pretending to so they could get close to my money, my father’s power – just people caring about me, about how I feel – people truly trusting me. People willing to believe I’m a good person. I just never thought I’d find that, but Hermione showed me tonight that there was at least one person that thought I was worth the risk,” he looked deeply into her eyes and found what he wanted there – comfort, love, security.

“Then when you and Ginny started talking about us being best friends – it was just such a surprise that it kind of bowled me over. There is a lot in my childhood that I need to get off my chest – just not right now. This is a happy occasion here, and I don’t want to ruin it.”

Hermione nodded at him, and then turned to the other two. “Do you think stories of what happened between me and Draco can wait until morning? There is a spare room all made up with fresh sheets and an enormous bed that you guys could use – if that’s okay with Draco.”

Draco nodded, “If you want to stay that’s fine by me. I’d be more than happy to have f-friends stay the night – I’ve never had that, either.” He took in a steadying breath. He was getting a better grip on his emotions. Hopefully when they were willing to listen to his story, he’d be able to keep them under control.

Ginny and Harry exchanged glances, then Harry nodded to Ginny. They needed to stay for Hermione and Draco – it was obvious that they both wanted to talk, and it looked like Draco’s was a little deeper than they had originally thought.

“Of course, we will be happy to stay.” Harry smirked at Ginny. “Besides, it’ll be nice to be away from Ginny’s parents for a night.”

Ginny blushed and punched Harry in the arm.

Draco chuckled, and Hermione blushed. “As long as you put a silencing charm on the room, I have no objections to whatever you do in there. Just don’t wreck it without cleaning it up. We’ll do the same thing for you – unless you two like to listen in, that is?” Draco smirked at the two Potters, who blushed furiously.

Hermione gasped and then, looking at Ginny and Harry’s face, giggled mischievously. “Yeah you guys – you sure didn’t mind hanging outside of our bedroom to listen in!” then she blushed when she realized what she’d just said about ‘their’ bedroom.

Draco gave Hermione a dazzling smile at that. “If you want to call it that, go ahead. As far as I’m concerned, it’s ours. There will never be another woman in my bed with me – ever.”

Hermione drew in a quick breath. Was he saying what she thought he was saying?

“That can be one of the discussions that can wait for a later time. It’s now…” he looked over head at the clock on the wall. “2:30 a.m. We all need to get some sleep. We’ll take up this talk tomorrow morning. Harry, Ginny, if you follow me, I’ll take you to your bedroom for tonight. Hermione – I’ll see you in our room in a minute.”

Hermione nodded, hugged and kissed Harry and Ginny and bade them goodnight. She turned, kissed Draco, and walked off to the bedroom. Their bedroom.

When she got into the room and had closed the door, she stripped off the clothes that Draco had given her and laid them in a neat pile on the chair in the corner. She didn’t have any clothes of her own except the dress she wore, she was going to have to go home sooner or later and get clean clothes. Oh, well. She’d think about that tomorrow. She climbed up into Draco’s – their – bed and snuggled into the down comforter. She sighed a happy little sigh and closed her eyes to go to sleep. She hoped she would wake up when Draco came in, but she couldn’t be sure. She was tired enough to sleep through just about anything. She smiled to herself, breathed in the scent of Draco and promptly fell asleep.

*************

Draco walked Harry and Ginny to the guest room where Hermione was supposed to be sleeping. He noticed that her dress was still lying on the floor. He picked it up and looked around for her panties – but couldn’t find them. Ginny snickered when she noticed what he was looking for.

“She doesn’t wear a bra or panties with that dress,” Ginny explained. “She’s only worn it one other time, and she was too embarrassed to leave her flat with it on. I was quite shocked when she came into the reception with it on. I’m also surprised that you didn’t notice that she was going ‘commando’. Honestly – men can be so dense sometimes!”

“Hey now, quit giving me a hard time,” Draco gave Ginny a sad look, all mocking innocence. “How was I supposed to know what she was and wasn’t wearing? When we first got here, I carried her into this bed, without taking off her clothes, intent on being virtuous.” Harry and Ginny snorted. Thinking of Draco as virtuous was the most ludicrous thing they’d ever thought of! He smirked at the both of them for their train of thought, although it wasn’t the smirk of the old Draco – this one was full of humor, not arrogance. They all looked at each other for a moment, then started laughing. “Thank you both for being such good friends to Hermione – and thank you for accepting me into your circle of friends. Hermione was the only person willing to accept that I had changed – until now. I hope that I truly live up to being one of your best friends – and that your family, Ginny, will accept me, too. I’ve wanted to be a part of it all for a really long time. Well, sweet dreams, we’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

And he left both Potters very surprised with the fact that he wanted to be accepted by the Weasley family.

*************

Draco went back to his room, thinking about everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. As he looked at his Hermione, he smiled to himself. She was his, all his! She loved him, as much as he loved her. He stripped off his pajamas and robe, and went the bed. She was sleeping on his side, so he smiled, shaking his head, and went around to the other side. He crawled into the bed and scooted his body next to her. Did she like cuddling? He knew that most of the girls and women that he’d been with did like to cuddle, but he’d run across a few that didn’t. Should he risk it? As he was thinking about it, Hermione rolled over and opened her sleepy eyes. When she saw him laying next her, she smiled with heart-stopping sweetness. He took a strand of her curly honeyed brown hair and wound it around one of his fingers.

“What are you looking at?” Hermione queried with a smile to take the bite out of the words.

“I was just wondering if you liked to cuddle,” Draco smirked. “I have met a few women that don’t like to, and I didn’t want to offend you with cuddling up to you.”

“Why Mr. Malfoy – I would love to cuddle with you! Get your beautiful body over here!” Hermione smirked back.

“I’d be delighted to Mrs. – ah, Miss Granger,” Draco blushed. What had he almost said? Oh fine thing Draco, you do so well with not putting any pressure on Mya, and then you go and almost call her “Mrs. Malfoy”. Talk about putting your foot in it!

Hermione’s eyes grew very wide, and her bottom lip started trembling a bit. “What – what were you about to call me, Draco?”

Draco looked away from Hermione, staring down at the foot of the bed.

“Draco? Please, Draco – tell me what you were going to call me.”

Still staring at the foot of the bed, he said “I was going to call you ‘Mrs. Malfoy’, Mya,” then he looked her directly in the eye. “I wasn’t going to do this; I wasn’t going to put any pressure on you. I won’t deny that you as my wife hadn’t crossed my mind, more than anything I’ve ever wanted, I want you as my wife. But this isn’t something we need to discuss right now.”

Hermione’s eyes went very wide upon Draco’s admission that he had almost called her ‘Mrs. Malfoy’. Just the thought of her with that name made her head reel.

She shook her head a little, trying to clear the sudden vision of her and Draco, several years down the line, with several children playing around them. She sighed happily at the thought.

“Mya? Hermione?” Draco shook her slightly. “Hermione, what are you thinking about? You look like the cat that caught the canary!”

Hermione snapped out of her reverie and blushed brightly. Oh, Gods! I can’t believe I am actually thinking of how it could be if we married. I have to stop – I have to – I can’t think about this so soon after – Ron.

“Hermione? C’mon, share! What were you thinking that caused you to blush so much?”

She looked at Draco and blushed a deeper shade of red.

“Well, if you must know…” she stopped. Should she tell him?

“I must! I must!” croaked Draco.

“I was thinking of us, married, with a whole slew of children around us – how happy we would be – how happy it made me when you started to call me ‘Mrs. Malfoy’,” she stopped again.

Draco stopped, too, with his mouth falling open.

“But Draco,” Hermione began again. “I’m – I’m not ready for that – not quite yet, anyway. Can we talk about this at another time?” her eyes pleaded with him to understand.

“Well, okay, Mya,” Draco was disappointed. He was hoping for a wedding right away, but now it looked like a several months wait, at least. “I understand about you needing to wait – especially after what – he – did tonight.”

“But you’re disappointed.” It wasn’t a question.

“Well, of course I’m disappointed!” Draco was trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. “You’re my dream come true! You’re who I’ve always hoped I’d end up with! I don’t want to wait – and I’m not used to having to!” Seeing the distressed look on her face, he mentally cursed himself for getting so carried away with his emotions again that he upset her. “Mya, I’m so sorry – I didn’t mean to go off like that. It’s just for the last few years I’ve wanted to be with you and I never thought I’d get to. Now here we are – together. And all I can think is I never want to let you go! That I want you with me forever. I know you’re overwhelmed by it – we will just put this conversation on the shelf for a while and see where all this takes us.”

“Oh, Draco – I want to be with you too – forever and always. It’s just so soon after – I just need some time to think and sort things out in my head. Thank you so much for understanding. Now – come over here and snuggle up with me and let’s get some sleep!”

With that, they snuggled into each other’s arms, kissed good night, and went to sleep.

*************

Harry was lost in thought as he stripped down for bed. There was so much that had gone on in the last twenty-four hours. His two best friends went from getting married to Ron leaving Hermione at the altar, and Hermione becoming involved with Draco Malfoy of all people! He knew how they felt about each other. In that instant that he had read Draco, he’d known that he was sincerely in love with Mya – as well as wanting to become friends with him and Ginny and Ginny’s family. He had no doubts of Draco’s feelings – or intentions – towards Hermione, and he now had no doubts about what she felt for Draco.

It was just so hard to imagine them all as friends. Harry was realizing that he was as prejudiced against Draco as Draco used to be against Hermione. Except now Hermione and Draco were together and he was going to have to force himself in seeing Draco in a whole new way. This was going to be difficult.

He crawled into bed and only then did he realize that he should have asked Ginny what she thought from the start! Ginny was very good when it came to match-making couples – so if there was ever someone who could tell if Draco and Hermione were going to be good for each other, it was his wife.

“Ginny, I just realized – I hadn’t asked you what you thought of Draco and Hermione getting together – and where you thought this might head and if it was going to last.”

Ginny laughed at him. “I was wondering when you were going to get to it!” she giggled. “I think that it will be a beautiful wedding. They’ll have scores of children and be completely devoted to each other. They’re going to be so in love with each other it’s going to give everyone around them toothaches and tummy aches; they’ll be so sweet! I also think that there will be some rather heated arguments between them that will fuel an equally heated sex life.”

Harry felt his eyebrows rise a little more with each of his wife’s pronouncements, until he was afraid that they would take up permanent residence in his hairline.

“So, you really think that this is going to work between them?”

“Darling, I know it will,” smirked Ginny. “They’ve been attracted for too long for it not to work out. If you think back, you would probably be able to see where it started – in school.”

“In school?” yelped Harry. He thought about it, during which of the innumerable confrontations they had could have sparked this love?

Ginny watched her husband think hard about all of the heated meetings that Draco and Hermione had when in school. She grinned impishly when Harry’s eyes went wide when the realization hit him.

“No!” he yelled.

“Oh, yes!” Ginny squealed and clapped her hands.

“But – but – she hit him!” Harry was beside himself. “He had been utterly disgusting to us because of Buckbeak and she smacked him. How could that have been it?”

“It was the first time she had physically shown him that she wasn’t just going to sit by while he was horrible and nasty to everyone. It was the first time that someone had truly stood up to him and basically showed him they weren’t going to put up with his shit anymore.”

Harry just sat there, stunned. He thought back to that day in their 3rd year at Hogwarts that Hermione had hit Draco. The electricity that had pulsed back and forth between them – he had taken it for hatred and loathing. What if it had been something else entirely?

“Oh my Gods, Gin – you’re right!” Harry laughed. “Thank you for helping me figure that one out, darling. How can I repay you?” he said with a smirk and lifted eyebrow.

Ginny quickly finished undressing as she cast a silencing charm on the door and crawled into bed with her husband.

“Oh, I’ll think something.” She said as she turned and gave him a rather serious kiss.

By the end of the night, they both were glad she had put the silencing charm on the door, and they went to sleep with smiles on their faces. As they sunk down to sleep, their last thoughts were exactly the same.

What in the world is going to come of this?