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Tales of The Dragon and The Bookworm	By : cpetnm Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 58350 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 4
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
- 14
- 15
- 16
Not Himself

Summary: Hermione breaks up with Draco. In her typical post-breakup ritual, she aims to shag her feelings for Draco out of her system. However, Draco can’t bear the idea of her shagging random blokes and glamours himself into every man she gets into bed with.

Words ~ 5,600

Author’s Note: Thank you to General_Crow, MotekElm, and KITTIEFIVETATTS- Thank you so much for your reviews! It felt great to finally get a story out there.

General_Crow- I’ve missed you! I hope everything is going well with you and your family. Thank you for the kind feedback.

“Why didn’t you come to dinner last night?”

Draco didn’t meet Hermione’s eyes and continued to read the sports section of the Prophet as she stood awkwardly in his peripheral vision.

They’d been seeing each other for two months. Hermione hadn’t been sure about dating the blond Slytherin at first, but Draco wore her down with his attention. Things had been going well, smashing in fact, until last night when Draco didn’t show for a dinner with her parents.

“I had to work,” he said without emotion.

“I thought you would be there.”

Draco finally looked up. “I never actually agreed to dinner.”

Hermione pursed her lips and waited for Draco to continue. Instead he shrugged and went back to his paper.

It was at that moment Hermione realized she’d put much more stock into his pursuit of her than he had. She’d thought he wanted something more substantial with her. Her muscles tensed as she stood still, trying to keep calm, but she felt as if a soft breeze might push her over.

“Alright,” she said, her throat tightening, “I’m going to grab a few things from your bedroom.”

Once she’d made her way to his bed chambers, her actions were mechanical as she quickly grabbed a few toiletries that had migrated to his loo and took a final look at the rich, polished wood of the furniture and plush linens of his bed.

When she returned from the bedroom, she stood behind Draco as he continued to peruse the paper.

“Malfoy,” she said, her voice tinged with her nervousness and hurt.

He turned and raised his eyebrows at her odd expression.

“I’m going to go. I think it’s best for me if we don’t see each other any longer.”

He seemed puzzled, even annoyed, as he looked at her face. “Is this because I skipped dinner with your parents?”

Her mouth began to tremble as she said, “It’s part of it. I want more from this than you’re willing to offer. I’m actually very glad you were honest with me so I don’t waste any more time thinking this is something more than what it is.”

Without waiting for a response, she exited the room and made her way to the front door. Once she got out of the grand manor, she let out a small sob and let the tears fall. This hurt, but Hermione Granger had a a tried and true strategy for moving on after a breakup.

At age twenty, when Hermione had found out Ron was also seeing Susan Bones, she broke up with him and spent a month moping about her little flat, crying, eating ice cream, and watching trash on the telly. Eventually, she stopped eating ice cream like it was her last meal when her denims no longer buttoned.

A few weeks later, Ginny and Harry broke up and the girls decided to get out there and go dancing. Both witches’ self-esteem had suffered and they wanted to enjoy some drunken fun. That night, Hermione took home a handsome Muggle and felt both beautiful and empowered by the experience. While she knew nothing much would come of the liason, she had never explored her more sexual nature and found she quite liked it. However, she didn’t want to damage her reputation in the wizarding world, so she generally went to Muggle bars and clubs to pick up men.

So, here she was, five years later, making plans with Ginny to go to a club.

“Should I owl Luna and Parvati for a night out on Saturday?” Gin asked, appreciating Hermione’s post-breakup ritual. She’d done it herself after her epic breakup with Harry, but after her one-off with Blaise Zabini, he’d pursued her with such fervor she’d given in to seeing him again. And again. And again. Eventually, Blaise persuaded her to give him a real shot and they’d been together ever since. They’d been married for just over two years. So Ginny thought there was a possibility of something better for Hermione than one-offs if she was open to it.

“Blaise doesn’t mind?”

Ginny laughed. “No. He feels terrible for encouraging you to give Malfoy a chance. And he trusts me.”

Hermione hugged the lovely flame-haired witch. “You deserve all the love Blaise gives you. Now please let me into your gargantuan closet so I can borrow something for Saturday night.”

“Why do you want to know where they’re going?” Blaise asked suspiciously.

“Just curious. I heard that Hermione shags wizards out of her system. Maybe I want to witness her fall from grace,” Draco said with a mean smirk.

“You’re a real piece of work,” Blaise said, shaking his head. “You do know she’s bloody hot, right? Not everyone knows her as the bookworm or the brains of the Golden Trio. Maybe if you’re lucky, she’ll be gone by the time you get to the bar so you won’t have to watch some other bloke take her home.”

“We’ll see.”

The Muggle bar was loud with rock music blaring and people milling about in groups, clearly on the pull. Tonight his hair was light brown and his eyes were blue. He’d taken his inspiration from a Muggle magazine Hermione had left at the manor, some bloke called Paul Walker. Draco watched as Hermione and her friends laughed and drank Muggle alcohol. She looked gorgeous with her long legs in denim and a tiny top accenting her breasts. She wore her hair in that wild way that screamed fuck me, he thought bitterly. Finally, Hermione broke from the group and made her way to the bar for another drink.

“Can I buy you a drink?” he asked, giving her a charming smile.

“Sure,” she said, turning to look at him. Her brow creased in confusion for a moment before she schooled her face into something more pleasant. “Do I know you from somewhere?”

“I don’t think so,” he said.

“Are you here with friends?”

“Uh, no, just wanted to enjoy a few libations after a long week of work,” he explained. He did work very hard as the CEO of Malfoy Enterprises. “Are you here with someone?”

“No,” she said with a sly smile. “I’m totally free.”

“What’s your name?” he asked as they flirted on the walk back to her flat.

“Jean,” she said, taking his hand and pulling him up the steps to her building.

He noticed she didn’t ask his name, signaling her intent for the evening. Nonetheless, as soon as they got into her flat she was kissing him, her hands pulling his shirt from his black pants. Her mouth was aggressive, with her tongue dueling with his as his hands explored her curves. He tried to slow things down by peppering kisses along her neck, but she pushed him down on the bed, pulling his clothes off as she quickly threw the offending garments to the floor. This version of Hermione was ruthless, taking what she wanted. He rather liked it and let her enjoy the power.

Draco was slightly alarmed when she grabbed a little packet and tore it open with her teeth, then unrolled some kind of sleeve over his prick. It was a bit desensitizing, but he remembered her telling him Muggles used these for birth control.

“You’re—” Draco murmured.

Before he could say any more, she straddled him and lowered her tight heat onto him, moaning as she began to rock back and forth. He was jealous that some stranger would get to enjoy her uninhibitedness.

He cupped her breasts and caught a nipple in his mouth, sucking as she rode him hard, grinding her clit against him.

“I’m going to come,” she groaned, quickening her pace.

Draco grabbed her hips and roughly thrust against her body.

“Fuck,” he bit out as she scratched his chest with her nails. He let himself go, enjoying the release as she let out a long, low moan. She collapsed over him, breathing hard into his shoulder.

He wanted to say something, but decided to stay quiet. Finally, she moved off of him, lying beside him on the double bed. The silence became uncomfortable after he noticed her breaths start to slightly stutter, as if she wanted to burst into tears.

“You should go,” she said as she stood and made her way to the loo.

As he dressed, he could hear her quiet whimpers over the sound of the running water of the sink. The part of Draco that was angry she had dumped him was overshadowed by the part of him that felt his heart contract as he listened to her cry.

He saw her in the halls of the Ministry and she ignored him. She had grown into a beauty, but her eyes were shadowed and her posture indicated that she didn’t want to be bothered.

“Malfoy,” Harry said as he entered the lift.

“Potter.”

The two were on friendly terms, due to the mix of friends they had in common. Harry had even dated Daphne Greengrass for a few weeks after he and Ginny had broken up.

“Sorry to hear about you and Hermione.”

Draco scowled. “We’re working some things out separately.”

Harry nodded, but looked unconvinced. “Sure. Does she know that?”

Draco let out a breath. “No. But I have a plan.”

Harry felt sorry for the other wizard, knowing Hermione had already moved on, from what Luna had told him. He thought the shagging strangers business wasn't very Hermione-like behavior, but sometimes matters of the heart weren’t logical or reasonable.

“Good luck, mate,” Harry said with a nod, and stepped off the elevator.

He picked her up in coffee houses, grocers, bookshops and cinemas. They fucked in tiny loos, dark side streets, dressing rooms, and even once in a never-used room of an art museum.

Each time he made sure to change his appearance and to speak as little as possible. Draco wondered if she might suspect that he was her mystery lover, but she never said anything, though she’d sometimes looked at him with a furrowed brow.

He’d started his deception thinking he was tricking her and helping himself feel better about being dumped by her, but after they shagged, he realized she wasn’t doing what she was doing out of joy or fun. It really seemed that she was trying to get her mind off of him, although he could tell it was going to take a lot more one-offs to get to that place.

He hadn’t wanted to be shackled in marriage, not after the hell he’d seen his father put his mother through, but he felt sick thinking that Hermione might actually be fucking every random bloke in England if he’d not intervened. Draco began to imagine what it might be like to let her into his life a bit more than he had. She was genuine in her feelings for him, of that he was assured. Hermione Granger certainly didn’t care about his millions of Galleons or his handsome looks. What he worried about were the traits he shared with Lucius Malfoy. He never wanted to be the wizard who would break his family with his desire for power, recognition, and money. So, he’d made a decision early on to eschew marriage and distance himself from any witch who showed any interest in a deeper relationship with him.

Now he wasn’t so sure he could see himself without Hermione Granger.

The next club where Draco found Hermione was darker, with smoke swirling about the dance floor and a deep bass beat shaking the walls. Couples undulated to the music or sat in the velvet lined booths and snogged. It was the type of place Draco had frequented when he wanted an anonymous fuck and he could feel that familiar anger that Hermione was here to do that very thing.

This evening Draco had vaguely glamoured himself into some Muggle called Christian Bale. He wore a tight black pair of trousers and a black button-down shirt. He’d wanted to look the part as not to arouse Hermione’s suspicions about him. Since she was drinking, he knew he wouldn’t be on the lookout for his glamoured features.

He made his way onto the dance floor as she danced by herself. Hermione had dressed the part as well, with her hair charmed straight, her eyes darkly lined, and a deep purple slinky dress that ended mid thigh. Merlin, she looked like an advertisement for his every wet dream as a teen.

They made eye contact and Draco took it as his cue join her.

“Hello,” he murmured into her ear. “You here alone?”

She nodded, closing her eyes and putting her hands around his neck, drawing him in close. He traced a finger down her neck to the top of her breast.

“What’s your name?” he whispered into her ear, nipping the delicate lobe and causing her to shiver.

“Hermione,” she answered truthfully.

She allowed him to explore her body as they moved to the sensual music, his hands tracing along her back and arse.

“Let’s get out of here.”

Draco decided to get a hotel room. It was getting exhausting fucking in cramped spaces.

This time he wasn’t going to allow her to take control of the situation. The last time he’d left her, he’d felt slightly defeated. He needed to find out more about her state of mind from these encounters.

“I don’t do this often,” he said as they entered the posh room. “When I do this kind of thing, I don’t want it to feel sleazy.”

She nodded, but didn’t say anything.

He poured them each a drink from the room’s small bar. The lighting was low and intimate and he noticed Hermione admiring the view of the city. She was quiet this evening, enjoying the beautiful hotel room and the buzz of the alcohol she had imbibed at the club.

Draco kept his voice low as not to alert her his deceit.

“You’re very beautiful. How is it a woman like you isn’t involved with someone?”

He was worried Hermione might not answer, but she put her glass down on the window ledge and made her way to him.

“There was someone,” she said, punctuating her words by slowly unbuttoning his black shirt. “But now there’s not.”

Draco decided to let the conversation go, for now. He allowed her to continue her slow trail down his body as she unbuckled his belt and unzipped his trousers. Worried that she would notice particulars about his body, he leaned in and kissed her, pushing her to the couch. He knelt between her long legs and nuzzled her thighs, pushing her legs apart with his kisses. When he reached the apex of her legs, he pushed his nose into her knickers, rubbing it against her hard, little clit.

“Oh, God,” she moaned, spreading her legs into a wide V.

He continued to trail his mouth along the flimsy fabric of her knickers, enjoying the scent of her arousal. He loved licking her quim and decided that she’d been teased enough. With her aid he pulled her knickers down her smooth legs and put them into his pocket. She was now bared to him and he saw her little pussy was shaved clean.

“Put your legs on my shoulders.”

She obliged, her eyes glassy with want from the teasing he was doing. After the last few weeks, Draco knew she usually fucked her targets quickly, but he had other plans. He licked her plump lower lips, tracing them with his tongue. She liked it when he took his time with oral sex. His nose grazed her clit and he continued to lightly tongue her. He pushed his tongue into her, her wetness beginning to coat his mouth and chin. When he gently pushed a finger into her arse, she moaned.

Draco was thrilled at her response and began sucking her clit. Her hips were rocking against his mouth and she pushed against the finger stroking her back entrance. He knew she liked when he played between her cheeks, although she never asked him to do so.

“Ahh!” she groaned as she began to come. Draco could feel her pulsing around his finger and he suckled hard at her turgid bundle of nerves. After a moment she pushed his mouth away from her.

“Too much,” she whispered. “You’re amazing at that.”

Draco grinned at her and gently removed his finger from her tight hole, kissing his way up her belly and between her breasts. He leaned over her and kissed her, letting her taste her juices. She began to push his shirt off his shoulders as they kissed.

Draco broke the kiss and looked down at this lovely witch’s flushed face and pouty lips.

“Bedroom.”

Draco kneeled on the soft bed with Hermione sitting on his lap, his cock embedded in her tender flesh. He knew this intimate position was dangerous, as he could feel close to her like he once had. They looked into each other’s eyes, occasionally gasping or moaning. After her intense orgasm, Hermione was more open to slow, sensual sex and Draco planned to take advantage.

He relished the way she carded her fingers through his hair, amazed at the sense of wholeness he felt as they shared their bodies. He cupped her arse, moving her hips to allow him to fully penetrate her body. The wide head of his penis rubbed against her g-spot and she cried out in surprise.

“Come, sweet girl,” Draco whispered into her ear as he enjoyed her gasps every time he hit the sensitive spot in her channel.

His hips pistoned into her as his hands guided her up and down on his aching cock. He knew she was close as she began to claw at his shoulders.

“Yes!” she moaned, her body overwhelming her with pleasure as she orgasmed in her lover’s embrace.

Draco buried his face in her neck as he came, her sounds of pleasure music to his ears. He’d always loved how she vocalized her desires during sex.

They clung to each other as they came down from their mutual highs. After a moment, Draco felt wetness on his neck as Hermione’s breathing began to change.

“Are you alright?” he asked cautiously, pushing her long hair away from her face.

He felt her nod, but she made no move, for which he was grateful. This was the most she’d opened up to one of her “lovers” over the past few weeks.

“That was unexpectedly intense,” she whispered, continuing to allow Draco to hold her.

He shifted them so they could face each other on the bed, their heads sharing a plush pillow.

“What’s wrong, beautiful?” he asked, wiping a tear from her flushed face. “Sometimes it’s easier to confide in a stranger.”

At least a minute passed as Draco waited patiently, fingering her uncharacteristically straight, smooth tresses.

“I fell in love with someone who didn’t feel the same way,” she finally said.

Draco felt as if the air had been sucked from his lungs. She loved him? He’d made the assumption she’d wanted to pin him down in marriage, but as he’d thought about her and their time together, he’d figured out she might eventually have wanted marriage, but what she’d really wanted was to bring him into her world. And now he was reduced to glamouring his appearance to be close to her. He could no longer fathom why he’d rejected her offer to meet her parents. He’d no idea she would call his bluff and leave him, not even looking in his direction each time he’d seen her in the wizarding world. Blaise had told him rather bluntly that she hadn’t mentioned him once since they’d stopped seeing each other.

“What might you do if this bloke had a change of heart?”

Hermione shook her head. “He won’t. He was quite definitive.”

“People change,” Draco said softly.

“Maybe,” she sighed, nuzzling into him.

They had talked until almost four in the morning. Mostly, Hermione shared her thoughts and dreams and Draco listened, asking her questions about herself. Eventually, both were lulled into sleep by the white noise of the city.

Draco woke to a sharp jab to his neck and a furious witch glaring at him.

“Why?” she spat, anger, hurt, and betrayal making her shake slightly.

Her wand dug into his wind pipe, making speech almost impossible. He held his hands up in a gesture of peace, showing her he meant no harm. Draco looked at his arm and caught the familiar Dark Mark and knew his glamour had faded during sleep. She moved back, her wand still trained on him.

“Why would you do this?!”

When she noticed his guilty expression, her wand began to spark.

“Speak!” she yelled.

“Hermione, please hear me out,” he pleaded. “I know how you deal with break-ups and I hated the idea of you whoring yourself out—”

“What have you done, Malfoy?” she asked, adrenaline coursing through her body. She felt like she couldn’t get enough air into her lungs.

“You’ve only been with me,” he admitted, afraid to look at her face. She was going to absolutely murder him.

He waited for one of her legendary hexes, but when that didn’t happen he finally looked at her to find her face hidden by her long hair. Draco took a chance and scooted over to her, gingerly wrapping his arms around her stiff form.

“I was wrong. So, so wrong. I was such a fool. You know how much I detest surprises and my feelings for you have been the ultimate surprise. I know that what I did was underhanded, but—”

She pushed him away and he hated the way she looked at him with so much confusion and hurt.

“You are the worst kind of man,” Hermione said, her voice low and rough. “You use women for what you want and when they ask anything from you, you push them away. I can’t believe a word you’ve said. You’re a bloody liar.”

She slipped on her dress and wandlessly gathered her things. Hermione finally looked at his face, his eyes pleading with her to hear what he was saying. She wanted to slap him, then let herself be embraced by his familiar comfort.

“Stay away from me,” she said, rushing out of the room, her feet slapping the parquet floors as she quickly exited the suite.

Draco immersed himself in his work and by the following Friday evening, he needed a drink somewhere that wasn’t his cold, enormous manor. He found himself in the Leaky Cauldron, nursing his wounds in a dark, neglected corner of the bar. He ignored the comings and goings of the witches and wizards enjoying their evening until his eyes were drawn to Hermione walking into the Leaky with a tall, muscular wizard.
He motioned to the bartender to get another glass of fire whisky.

“Keep them coming,” he said, his stomach twisting with anxiety as he watched Hermione and that cocksucker sit at a small table. He didn’t recognize the wizard until the man stood and Draco realized it was Viktor Krum.

Bugger.

An hour later, he had indeed kept up with a steady stream of fire whiskies and his imagination was showing him scenarios of Krum and Hermione. He just knew that famous arse was there to swoop in and take his place in Hermione’s life.

Draco took the last swig from his glass and staggered over to Hermione and Viktor.

“This witch” he slurred, sneering at the Bulgarian wizard, “deserves better than someone like you.”

Viktor straightened his posture and met Malfoy’s glare. “You aren’t vanted here, Malfoy.”

Draco looked at Hermione, whose eyes were big and worried as she watched the two wizards interact.

“I know,” Draco said mournfully. “I had this amazing woman’s love and I pushed her away. But she’s different. I knew it and I was afraid of the unknown. Now you or some other arse will get to have my future with Hermione. And that’s entirely my own bloody fault!”

“Draco, don’t do this here,” Hermione whispered, noticing the people around them starting to watch their group.

The blond rubbed a hand over his face and took a deep breath.

“I’m so sorry, love. I would do anything for you to just talk to me for a few minutes.”

Hermione thought Draco looked like he was about to cry, no doubt from a combination of liquor and oddly, maybe a bit of heart ache. He held eye contact with her before turning and making his way to the pub’s exit.

“Ve go, mila,” Viktor said, taking Hermione’s cloak and helping her out of her seat.

Draco had spent weeks glamoured as random blokes to avoid Hermione being with anyone else precisely so he wouldn’t have to feel like someone had applied Sectumsempra to his heart.

He walked through the dark, cold Alley, too drunk to Apparate home. It was almost an hour later that he’d sobered enough to make the trek to Malfoy Manor. He was shrugging off his cloak when he noticed a small figure sitting on a chair in the entrance hall.

“Hermione?”

“Hi,” she said quietly. “Are you sober enough to talk?”

Draco swallowed and nodded. “Let’s go into the library.”

The two moved silently though the mansion and arrived at the library, where Draco lit the enormous fireplace with his wand and motioned for Hermione to take a seat on the leather sofa. He sat at the opposite end of the sofa, letting himself warm before the flames.

“Are you seeing Krum?”

Hermione shook her head. “We’re old friends. He’s here for a publicity tour.”

“Oh.”

The two stared into the fire for a few moments, trying to formulate what they wanted to say. Finally Hermione broke the silence.

“You went to see my parents?”

He turned to her, noticing the nervous way she toyed with the bracelet she wore.

“I wanted to apologize to them for my absence at dinner that night…”

“My parents know we broke up, Draco.”

“Your mum mentioned it. She was very kind, though.”

“They’re nice people.”

An uncomfortable silence descended as Draco worked up the courage to say what he needed to say to Hermione.

“My parents were married after my mother’s sister ran away with a Muggle-born wizard. Her parents couldn’t risk the social stain, so they made a quick arrangement with my Grandfather Malfoy. Lucius, it seemed, was already involved with Voldemort and his father thought marriage might be a way to refocus his attention.”

Hermione watched Draco with attention. He almost never mentioned his parents.

“My mother was ten years younger than my father. She’d just turned eighteen when they married. Her parents forced her to take a vow of monogamy so she wouldn’t embarrass them, but Lucius took no such vow.”

Draco conjured a glass and filled it with water, taking a long drink before continuing.

“Father continued to live the way he had before he was married. He spent more time out of the house than he did in it, even when I was a child. When I did see him, he mostly ignored me. Children weren’t meant to be seen or heard.”

The bedraggled wizard took a deep breath.

“You see, I didn’t think that raised as I was, it was ever a good idea for me to get attached to anyone. As I got older, everyone would tell me how much I resembled my father until it became hard for me to believe that I could be any different. Not until I started to date you.”

“Why’s that?”

Draco smiled cautiously at her.

“You’re interesting and fun. You get my sense of humor. We can talk about everything and you didn’t seem to want anything besides my company.”

“You could get all of that from a good friend,” she said, noticing Draco’s nervous posture.

“True,” he admitted, “but I don’t find my friends beautiful like I think you are. I don’t feel jealous when my friends want to date. And I’ve never felt like I needed anyone in my life like I need you.”

He moved closer to her, relieved that she allowed it.

“What exactly is it that you want from me?” she asked, still not totally trusting Draco’s intentions.

He took her hand, tracing the deep lines in her palm.

“I want you to give me a chance to regain your trust. I want you to let me get to know you through your friends and your family. I…maybe eventually,” he paused and swallowed nervously. “And maybe after all that, if you still want me, you’ll let me be your family, too.”

She was quiet for what Draco felt was an eternity before she finally spoke.

“Yes,” she said quietly, meeting his silvery stare.

“Yes?” he echoed. “You’ll give me another chance?”

“Yes,” she said with more confidence, a smile finally gracing her full lips.

Draco pulled her closer and kissed her, feeling a sense of belonging he’d missed since she’d left his home all those weeks ago.

Twenty Years Later

Elizabeth Narcissa Malfoy dabbed her eyes for the umpteenth time since her mum had asked her if everything was alright.

Hermione felt her heart breaking for her eldest daughter while she stroked her sleek, brown hair and listened to her story.

“I’ve spent so much time with Liam this school year and he didn’t even look at me at the Yule Ball! He ignored me when we got off the train. I really thought he liked me,” she said with a cry, a new wave of tears falling from her blue eyes.

“Oh, Lizzy,” Hermione said, hugging her daughter and pushing her long hair out of her face. “Love is never easy. If it’s meant to be with Liam, it will happen.”

Hermione saw Draco standing at their daughter’s bedroom door and motioned him in. He sat down quietly, watching his wife comfort their sensitive sixteen-year-old.

“How can you say that, Mum?” Elizabeth asked. “Daddy worships the ground you walk on!”

Draco moved to the bed to sit beside Lizzy.

“When your mum and I had dated for a couple of months, she set up a dinner so I could meet your grandparents. I stood them up and told her I didn’t want to meet them when she confronted me about it. Your mum dumped me that very day and it took me months to get her to talk to me again. If this Liam is worth his salt, he’ll make it up to you. If he doesn’t, than he’s not the wizard for you.”

“You really did that, Daddy? But you love Grandma and Grandpa,” Lizzy said, turning to look between her parents with some interest.

“I do love your grandparents, but I didn’t understand or appreciate what your mum was offering me. I was scared,” Draco admitted.

“You really dumped Dad?” Lizzy asked incredulously.

“I did. What your dad did demonstrated that he wasn’t ready for a relationship with me, so I told him I didn’t want to see him anymore. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.”

“Were you really sad, Daddy?” Lizzy asked, turning to her father.

“I was. Your mum wouldn’t give me the time of day. I stalked her for months until she finally agreed to talk to me,” he said, giving her the abridged version of their story. “It took me a long time to earn back her trust.”

“I never knew any of this,” their daughter murmured.

“People are complicated, my little dove,” Hermione said, hugging Elizabeth’s thin frame into her own. “Believe your dad when he says if this boy is worth it, he’ll prove himself.”

Lizzy nodded, letting her parents’ warmth and love bolster her. “I’m glad you won Mum back.”

Draco chuckled. “I thank Merlin every day that your mum gave me another chance. I’d be one sorry wizard without her.”

“And you wouldn’t have me, or Lyra, or Estrella.”

“Mum gave me my most precious gifts in you three,” Draco said with a smile and kissed Lizzie’s head.

Draco and Hermione left their daughter’s room, his arm around her shoulders.

“I really was a dunderhead,” Draco murmured.

Hermione laughed. “You were. But, I didn’t cope with things in a healthy way, either.”

“No, you really didn’t.”

Hermione shook her head. “You weren’t ready for what I wanted until you wanted it, too. That’s what I was trying to tell Lizzie. People do things in their own time. Doesn’t mean she has to wait around.”

Draco hugged Hermione closer.

“I always thought you suspected what I was doing,” Draco admitted.

“There was something vaguely familiar about each man, but I honestly thought it was my emotions causing me to see you in them.”

“You weren’t yourself,” Draco mused. “But in an odd sense, I felt I knew you better after those weeks.”

“I was very raw, emotionally, that is. I didn’t plan to see anyone more than once, so I was honest about my feelings.”

“Do you ever regret giving me a second chance?”

Hermione faced her husband—her confidant, her playmate, her lover, her best friend—and cupped his stubbled jaw.

“Never. I would do it all again to have you and our life.”
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Tales of The Dragon and The Bookworm