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It's Not Over	By : cpetnm Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 70649 -:- Recommendations : 6 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 13
- 14
- 15
A.N. Thanks for reading! It’s taken me a while to get the chapter up, but I’m going to keep plugging away at the story.

Nikte: Draco’s come a long way, but he has a long way to go. He’ll encounter some more hardship before the story is done.

Sherlocked17: I don’t want Draco to get too sweet, but I did want him to give Hermione more to work with than he has done in the past. True to his personality, he will continue to stick his foot in his mouth and say and do Draco-ish things in this and future chapters. ;)

Hermione touched up her lipstick and looked at herself in the mirror. She took the sapphire earrings from Draco out of her jewelry box and decided to wear them. Tonight they would have dinner in Diagon Alley. This would be the first time they had gone anywhere in the wizarding world together.

The dress she had chosen was an olive green sundress with thin straps holding up a fitted bodice. It was just above knee length. She paired it with tan wedge sandals and a tan leather clutch purse. Her short pixie hair had lightened over the summer and her skin was tanned from helping her parents with their garden.

She heard the whoosh of the floo and went downstairs to meet Draco.

“Hi,” she said giving him a smile.

“You look lovely.” He kissed her cheek. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah.”

They flooed to the Leaky Cauldron. Draco brushed himself off and took Hermione’s hand in his.

“Where are we going?”

“Michelangelo’s. Every dish is a work of art.”

“Well, that sounds perfect, Mr. Malfoy,” a sultry voice said from behind them.

Hermione found herself looking at a gorgeous blond, blue-eyed witch.

“You never owled me after that fantastic night,” the woman said, a sassy pout on her pink lips.

Fuck. He vaguely remembered shagging this woman, but he had been so consistently inebriated he couldn’t recall a single detail about the experience.

“Nor did I plan to. Good evening,” Draco said coolly.

He ushered Hermione out of the Leaky, trying to get away from his error in judgment. Hermione’s movements were stiff and she hadn’t said a word. He didn’t feel like he owed her an apology for what had happened in the past. Hermione had been the one to end things with him.

They walked in silence until they got to the restaurant. When they were seated, Hermione asked Draco about the woman in the Leaky Cauldron.

“Just a lapse in judgment, nothing more,” Draco said nonchalantly.

Hermione felt unsettled with what had happened, but decided to focus on their date.

“Where are you living this semester?” Draco asked.

“I’ll be in the dorms. Since I don’t know the area, I thought it might help to be on campus. It’ll give me more access to the library, too.” She smiled at Draco, trying to dispel her feeling of unease.

“Why did you apply for something so far away? I thought you were enjoying your university experience,” Draco said.

“I did enjoy it, but I…well, after New Year’s Eve, I decided to take a chance to do something for myself.” Damn. She really didn’t want to talk about how their estrangement made her feel cut off—from him, from the wizarding world and from herself. She still had issues with how Draco had defended pure-blood ways to her for so long. Even though she would give this difficult man a chance, she still wasn’t sure he had it in him to truly be in a relationship with her.

“Were you trying to get away from me?” he asked.

“We don’t have to talk about this now,” Hermione said, horrified to feel the prickle of tears in her eyes.

But if Draco noticed her discomfort, he ignored it and persisted in finding out why she was leaving.

“I want to know,” he insisted.

Hermione glanced around and was relieved to see that the other diners were immersed in their own dinners and conversations. She lowered her voice.

“Of course I was trying to get away from you! I tried to get away from you in the Muggle world, but you sought me out. I thought if I went across an ocean, we could try to move on.”

“You seemed to have moved on with Theo.” As soon as he said it, he knew he had gone too far. She dashed a tear away from her cheek.

“A woman you slept with just propositioned you. It appears to me that you moved on as well. I know you were drinking and sleeping with anything that had breasts, so I don’t appreciate what you’re insinuating about me.” Hermione took a deep breath. “Please excuse me,” she said, heading to the loo.

With clenched fists and a tight jaw, Draco waited for her to come back. The waiter brought their food. Finally, Hermione came back to the table and carefully sat down, arranging her napkin in her lap and looking at her food.

“This does look like a work of art,” she said, the corners of her lips tilting up in a tiny smile.

Oh, thank Merlin. He returned her smile and took a bite of his ravioli. The air between them was still a bit awkward, but both tried their best to enjoy their meal.

“You have to taste my scallops,” Hermione said, spearing a scallop for Draco and holding it to his lips. He took the succulent scallop into his mouth, enjoying the intimate way she fed him.

Hermione heard a familiar laugh and turned. Draco’s gaze followed hers and they were met with an unexpected sight.

A few tables away sat Pansy Parkinson and George Weasley. George was sipping wine and watching Pansy tell a story with obvious amusement. Hermione could tell they were comfortable with each other by the easy way they interacted. George was dressed in slacks and a dress shirt. His hair had grown and he wore it in a low queue. He looked quite handsome. Pansy’s severe black bob had grown out and her hair fell in waves to the middle of her back. Hermione had always thought Pansy was harsh looking, but she had a glow about her now. It was clear as day that they were in the process of falling in love.

“I never would have pictured those two together,” Draco said with a smirk.

“I wouldn’t have either, but they seem happy with each other.”

They watched their friends and housemates for a few moments before looking at each other and grinning. The anxious feeling dispelled and they both relaxed into their chairs. Draco waved the waiter over and ordered tiramisu for them to share.

“How long do you reckon they’ve been dating?” Draco wondered.

Hermione snuck a quick look at Pansy and George as the continued their dinner. “I don’t know, but I’d guess a couple of months. They seem comfortable together.”

The waiter placed their dessert on the table with two forks.

“Mmm. This is incredible,” Hermione said, closing her eyes in bliss. Draco admired her full lips and long dark lashes. He slid the sweet dessert onto his fork and fed it to her. Hermione watched him with heavily lidded eyes.

From across the room, Pansy spotted Draco and whispered something to George as he paid the bill. They walked towards Draco and his mystery date as they were leaving the restaurant. Hermione looked up at them as they approached the table. Pansy realized Draco was with Granger. Well, stranger things have happened, she thought, squeezing George’s hand.

“Hermione!” George said. Hermione stood to hug the red haired trickster.

“George, it’s so good to see you!” Hermione turned to Pansy. “Hello, Pansy. You’re looking well.”

Pansy startled Hermione by air kissing her cheeks. Granger’s grown into herself. She looks sexy. She turned to Draco, who looked older and more serious than he had when they graduated from Hogwarts.

“Draco, what a surprise,” Pansy said, kissing his cheek. Draco murmured a greeting to his friend.

“Weasley,” Draco said to George.

“Malfoy.” George nodded to Draco.

Pansy spoke to Draco while Hermione spoke to George. The situation was surreal for all four of them, but everyone refrained from asking questions. Finally, George reminded Pansy that they needed to leave soon. Draco and Hermione watched the couple depart.

Draco paid the bill and they left, feeling much lighter than they had when they had entered.

“What the bloody hell was that?” George asked with a laugh.

Pansy shook her head and chuckled. “I’m sure they said the same of us.”

“I thought they hated each other! But, they seemed comfortable together. How long do you think they’ve been dating?” George asked, echoing Draco’s question to Hermione earlier that night. He draped his arm across Pansy’s petite shoulders as they walked.

“Well, Granger had been dating Theo Nott. But she and Draco didn’t act like they had just started seeing each other. They spent a lot of time together seventh year for projects…” Pansy said, trying to figure out what the connection was between those two.

“Probably some illicit affair that’s finally come to light,” George joked.

Pansy thought about what he had said. George was probably right. During seventh year, she and Draco had stopped their infrequent romps in the sack. Perhaps he had been secretly seeing Granger.

“I know you’re kidding, but it’s a possibility.”

George had spent enough time with Hermione to know she didn’t suffer fools. If she was with Malfoy, they had a connection and it had some depth. Hermione was one of the most sincere people he knew.

He led Pansy to his apartment above WWW, ready to enjoy some private time with the witch who had surprised him with her sharp wit and sense of humor.

Hermione and Draco walked to Flourish & Blotts after they finished dinner. Draco had promised his mother he would pick up a book she had ordered. He had only agreed to pick up the book during their date because he knew Hermione would love the opportunity to visit the bookstore and browse. His parents often enjoyed an afternoon of browsing the prodigious bookstore. A leisurely visit to F&B certainly combined two of his favorite activities: time with Hermione and finding new reading material.

As they perused the stacks, Draco thought of something he had learned about his parents a few nights before.

“The other night I was having dinner with my parents and my father told me how he fell for my mother.”

“Hmm. I thought they had an arranged marriage.” Hermione turned to face Draco, giving him her full attention. She knew he didn’t share personal details with many people. It pleased her that he thought to share with her.

“Well, they did, but my father orchestrated it. My father tutored my mother when he was a prefect. They met several times a week and my father said they got on well. Then my mother said to me that she thought she’d have to marry a Romanian wizard, so she didn’t want to get too attached to my father.” Draco fingered the spine of a book on the history of Gringotts.

“I assumed they knew each other, but from what you’ve told me, I thought their relationship was based on practicality.”

“My father was smitten with my mother and asked her to the Yule Ball, but she said no. They stopped their study sessions and my mother began totally ignoring my father.”

“Your poor father!”

Draco smirked. “Well, Mother said she didn’t feel too bad cutting him off since he had girls hanging all over him. Even though she had tuned him out, he followed her and sat near her in the library and in the common room. Mother said what he was doing was painfully obvious, but she thought a match with the other wizard was inevitable.”

“I didn’t know stalking was genetic,” Hermione said, bumping Draco with her hip.

Draco looked perplexed for a second before choking out a laugh. “Oh, Merlin! You’re right, the Malfoys are absolute stalkers. But it seems to work for us.”

“So, how did they end up betrothed?”

“Well, my father learned my Grandfather Black was having trouble selling several buildings in Diagon Alley. His father, Abraxas Malfoy, bought real estate and flipped it, so my father told his father of the opportunity. My father told his father he was friends with my mother and they studied together on occasion. You know how Slytherins are, so my father couldn’t confess his feelings to his father. But, he knew Abraxas would use any advantage to secure the best deal on the buildings. Grandfather Black was amenable to giving Abraxas a good price on the buildings if he could secure a Malfoy marriage contract for one of his daughters. Luckily, my parents were the closest in age, so they were matched by their fathers.”

“How did your mother feel about the contract?”

“After the contract was completed, she and my father talked and began to see each other in earnest. My mother said she had friends at Hogwarts, but my father became her best friend as well as her betrothed.”

“What you’ve described to me of their relationship seemed cold. Did I misunderstand?” Hermione asked.

“No, I think I misunderstood their relationship. I knew they were companionable, but I think on most subjects, they’re of one mind. Now that I’ve been able to spend some time with them as an adult, I can see they really love each other.”

It made Hermione sad that Draco had gone his whole life thinking his parents were together for wholly pragmatic reasons.

“Do you think…” Hermione said, clearing her throat. “…your parents could understand us because they love each other?”

Draco arched an eyebrow at her. “Like we love each other?”

Hermione’s eyes widened. “You know that wasn’t what I meant.”

“But we do,” Draco said simply. His hand came up to her cheek and he rubbed his thumb over her cheekbone.

Brown eyes met grey. “It’s always so complicated between us.”

“I know,” Draco acknowledged.

They walked to the till, Draco grabbing the books Hermione had seemed interested in, which amounted to a stack of at least ten books.

“Draco, you don’t need to buy those for me.”

“Is this not the way to your heart?” he said jokingly.

“You never have to buy me things.” Hermione knew Draco had mountains of Galleons sitting in Gringotts, but she never wanted him to think she put his money in the same category as his personal attributes.

“I know you don’t expect me to buy you anything and that’s what makes it so much fun. Besides, they’re books. A few Galleons at most.”

Draco paid for everything and they walked out into the balmy evening.

“Come back with me to the manor,” he murmured into her ear as they walked to the Apparition point at the Alley’s edge.

“Draco! What would your parents say?” Hermione worried that the Malfoys already knew too much about their relationship.

“They’re not at the manor. They went back to Sweden to pack up their property.”

“My parents will worry if I don’t come home tonight, so I can’t stay.”

“Fine,” he sighed. He hadn’t actually expected Hermione to agree at all. At least he’d have her to himself when he accompanied her to the States.
- 13
- 14
- 15
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It's Not Over