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A Match Made In Convenience	By : ErisNight Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 47188 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 9
Disclaimer: The entire universe of Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no profit from writing these stories. I am only borrowing her inventions for my fiction.

Chapter List
- 16
- 17
- 18
A/N:

Longest Chapter yet at 7700 words. I'm finding more and more that I'm re-writing large sections of the chapters in order to get them just right. Chapter 18 is already more than halfway done but can I just say things are getting intense. This chapter is angsty, yes most of you don't like it but it must be done. No easy outs here. The good news is that Chapter 19 will bring the Dramione-ness back 100% and we'll be able to keep it there for the rest of the story.

Thank you to each and every one of you who is reading this fic. Every Hit, Rating and Review is wonderful. When I get depressed about how poor Draco is treated, I read the reviews lol and it peps me right back up! It's the best kind of motivation.

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Here's our Chapter 17: We Build And Then We Break

Eris

Hermione had a hectic work week to say the least. With all the thunderstorm data coming in, she was busy every day for the majority of her shifts.

  But by the following Monday morning, Hermione found that she appreciated the work load. She was barely allowed to breathe, let alone think about the events of the night she shared with Malfoy.

  Hermione was proud of the strategy she had developed for the past seven days. She had successfully managed to avoid Malfoy and had refrained from thinking too much into that night. Every morning she tried to have a light breakfast before he even woke up and was usually out of the house before he was even dressed.

  Then as if luck was on her side, Harry had been so busy with a new case, that he rarely made it home at night. Granted Hermione didn’t like it when he pushed himself so hard but she didn’t have to worry about him catching on to her odd behavior, so just this once she was grateful for his workaholic ways.

  Hermione leaned back in her chair and stretched before setting down her quill and gazing out the window.

  Thankfully Luna had owled to postpone their lunch plans until the following day, Hermione would have ultimately ended up having to cancel.

  She had stacks of research reports to get through before making her rounds and running a few tests. There wouldn’t have been enough time for her to leave the office and get everything else finished. Especially when every researcher kept coming and asking her questions on their own findings.

  But still she looked forward to her next lunch with Luna. It had been a refreshing change of pace to get to know the woman better and Hermione was glad she had thought of asking her to join her early the previous week.

  Luna was a brilliant Magizoologist and her findings on the creatures Hermione knew to exist were fascinating. Hermione found that she could listen to Luna for hours and that she learned a lot from hanging out with her.

  Turning back to her work, Hermione picked up the next report she had to go over and began to read. She had to get all of this done so that she could get to the research that she preferred doing.

  Hermione had decided to take up the mantle on the very much neglected time subdivision of the Department of Mysteries. It would be something fun and interesting to investigate once all this business with electromagnetic fields had concluded.

  Granted she couldn’t say a single word about Malfoy’s abilities, or even use her experiences as reference, but Hermione was sure she could make good headway for the sake of the magical community.

  Malfoy

  Just the thought of his name brought back vivid memories. Hermione cursed herself but groaned as images from that night came back to her one after another and dropped her head down to the desk.

  Hermione could not allow herself to reminisce; remembering all his sweet kisses, caresses or the feeling of him between her legs was detrimental to her overall resolve.

  She needed to just obliviate herself and get over it. There would be no riding off into the sunset with Draco Malfoy; they could never have a future together.

  Hermione should have been thanking her lucky stars that at the very least she had survived the night with her virginity intact. All of these emotions that she had swirling around at just the mention of the blonde’s name would have been a lot worse if she hadn’t.

  Hermione brought her head up and gave herself a firm nod. Her decision to leave before morning had been sound and she couldn’t allow herself to regret it for a single moment.

  Draco was pacing; walking back and forth so quickly, he would have treaded burn marks had there been carpet beneath his feet. Blaise just watched his best friend with an unusually serious expression on his face, waiting for the blonde to continue his earlier thought.

  “She clearly rejected me Blaise. She had been set on having me one moment and then apparently changed her mind the next. I don’t know what happened when she woke up but she didn’t even bother talking to me about it. Then she didn’t even look at me the morning after and left the kitchen as soon as I arrived.”

  Blaise sat back in his chair and crossed his arms, “I don’t know Drake, maybe Granger thought it was what she wanted at first because she’s broken up with Weasley but then decided not to go through with it. Some women have these ridiculous hang ups about sex. ”

  It was turning out to be a wholly uncharacteristic day for the two men. Draco sat down in the chair across from Blaise and pressed his hands against his face. He didn’t want to admit to the Italian that waking up alone had hurt him but there were no other words for it.

  “That only means I’m still not good enough Blaise. When has Granger ever been the type to play games? She’s ashamed of what happened between us and that’s not something I can fix by being handsome, witty or even bloody brilliant! If she’s ashamed of being seen with me, or for Potter to know that she wants me then we’ll never have anything!”

  Draco pinched the bridge of his nose and forced himself to calm down before continuing. There was no need to shout at Blaise seeing as none of this was his fault. Sighing Draco brought his hands to his knees.

  “I’m just a passing fancy for her. She’s been sending all these fucked up mixed signals and I don’t even know what to do. Granger had been coming to the kitchen every morning in practically nothing like she wanted me to take her on the table. It was maddening! But as soon as I follow through, after she initiates something, she jumps ship and avoids me.”

  Blaise remained quiet for a moment “maybe there’s been some sort of misunderstanding; maybe she thought you wouldn’t want to see her in the morning.”

  Draco frowned, “what was there to misunderstand? I’ve been sharing more of myself with her than I have anyone my entire life. She was the first and last person I saw when I woke up and went to bed at night. Not to mention I’ve been acting like bloody Potter lately, always coming to the rescue when she calls.”

  Blaise decided right then and there not to push the issue, Draco sounded sad. More melancholic than Blaise had ever seen him. His shoulders were hunched and he was clearly having a hard time discussing this topic.

  “Well what are you going to do mate?”

  Draco looked up and met his gaze “quit. It’s clear that I’m not good enough for her. At the point in which you give a girl an orgasm so good she faints, but then sneaks out, you quit. I mean if she were embarrassed then I’d understand, but Granger is fully avoiding me and it’s been a week. These feelings for her won’t go away easily but I can sure fuck my way through women that actually want me and try to make them.”

  “Are you sure that’s the best plan of action?”

  “What would you have me do?”

  “Talk to her about why she left?” Draco expelled a harsh laugh “Yea and sound completely pathetic while practically begging her to like me, no thank you. She left for a reason Blaise, and that reason was pretty damn clear.”

  Blaise only sighed “Well as long as you’re sure.”

  “I am sure” Draco all but shouted as though he were trying to convince himself. He rose from his chair and pushed it in just as quickly. “I’ve got an evening full of meetings ahead of me, I’ll see you later” Blaise waved at his departing friend but leaned back in his chair as the door closed behind him.

  “What a mess.”

  Harry took off his glasses and set them on his desk before rubbing his eyes. This had to have been his third day in a row without sleep and it was starting to catch up with him. All the field reports were starting to blur before and he wasn’t learning much about Amos Diggory’s life after Cedric’s death.

  He hadn’t been able to figure out the riddle either and THAT was tantamount to any other objectives Harry had at the moment. Even if Amos had been insane prior to his suicide, the fact that he had hinted at the possible deaths of many put Harry on edge.

  The best of the best were looking into it and after a week of searching every possible lead, Harry could tell that his team was losing their drive. He had worked them hard, every Auror under his command had been patrolling and researching around the clock non-stop since the interrogation.

  Harry picked up his glasses and placed them back on his face. It was well into the evening and he really needed to get some rest if he was going to be any help to his team come tomorrow. Hiding away all the important intel and straightening up his desk, Harry went to lock the door when an idea struck. Hermione has been having really late work days as well, wonder if she’s still here.

  Stepping outside his office and locking it thoroughly as usual, Harry turned and nodded to the night crew before heading down the hall. Knowing Hermione, she was working herself to the bone and hadn’t taken a lunch.

  Harry waved good night to a familiar employee walking toward him down the hall and turned the corner that led to the lift. Oddly enough the first thing he noticed was that there appeared to be a woman that was rocking from side to side waiting for it to come to the second floor.

  As he got closer he could hear her humming a tune he couldn’t quite place. Her long blonde hair hung freely to her waist and the knee length yellow dress she was accompanied by a pair of well-worn sneakers.

  Why is there a visitor here so late at night, surely she doesn’t work in any of the ministry’s administrative departments dressed like that. Harry frowned, with an eagle spying over the entry hall and Diggory’s ominous riddle; he couldn’t afford to mind his own business when dealing with suspicious persons within the ministry. Bringing his hand up close to where his wand lie in his pocket he slowed down his pace.

  “Excuse me; did you happen to get off on this floor by mistake?” His voice echoed out all across the empty hall and he watched as she jumped in surprise. Turning so swiftly that her hair flew in an arch as she moved, she took a quick step back but relaxed when she saw who it was. “Harry, how nice to see you again.”

  The sound of her soft voice caused a shiver to run down his spine and he felt his temperature rise in anticipation of hearing more. “Luna?” he asked almost dumbstruck, taking the remaining steps toward her.

  She smiled up to him “the one and only.” Harry couldn’t meet her eyes, if he looked at her, he didn’t think he would be able to speak.

  She had her wand behind her ear as always and little to no makeup but was still more gorgeous than he had remembered her being last time. Harry looked down to her dress and tried to focus on the color.

  Yellow, she’s got on yellow. A yellow dress that looks great on her. It fits her style well; it’s looks as though it was made for her shape. Her lovely tiny shape, her perfect legs and hips, her perfect waist and her perfect…

  His eyes fell to her chest and he suddenly realized that the dress was a modest V-neck but it still didn’t cover up her the slight fullness of her breast. She was so petite and lovely, just how he preferred. Not too much but not too little. “Harry?” The color drained from his face when he realized he had been staring.

  Bringing his hand up but not having a place to put it, he dropped it back down to his side and did his best to string together a coherent thought “Luna…”

  Her smile widened as she took a step closer to him. “You’ve already said that Harry.” He cleared his throat and looked down to the ground. “Err… so I have. How are you tonight?”

  “Wonderful now” she said in almost a sing-song voice. He looked up to her unreadable expression and shoved his hands in his pocket. “That’s good.”

  They stood in an awkward silence for a moment until he remembered why he had questioned her in the first place. “So what brings you to level two tonight?” Her bright silvery gray met his and he felt his heart beat wildly against ribs as though ready to burst through.

  “Going all Auror on me Harry Potter?” He could hear that she was teasing him; he knew it was a joke but still he felt his cheeks heat of their own accord, implicating him.

  He opened his mouth to answer her question but she pressed a slim finger to his lips. “I had my usual meeting with administration. No worries, I wasn’t doing anything suspicious, they just fit me in as late as possible to discourage me.”

  Harry was acutely aware that she was touching him and when she moved her finger away a small part of him mourned the loss.

  “Discourage you?” She nodded and twirled a strand of her hair in between her fingers.

  “Yes, I come daily after work or during lunch to petition for the official identification and classification of all the creatures daddy and I discover. It’s been a long standing problem with the ministry not acknowledging the existence of them and I think it may be hurting some of the creature’s feelings.”

  Luna paused for a moment and shook her head solemnly as if saddened by the injustice of it all. “Just imagine if everyone tries and tell you that you’re not real, it’s rather demoralizing Harry. The Nargles are taking it the worst.”

  Harry could tell from the tone in her voice that she was serious, but couldn’t find a single word to console her. It was one of those things about Luna he was just better off accepting in silence.

  He tried to change the subject “Daily? I’ve never seen you here before”

  Luna gave him a thoughtful look for a moment as though she knew what he was doing; but her mouth curved up into the semblance of a playful smile none the less. “Well that just because you never notice me Harry, I see you all the time.”

  Harry instantly felt cornered; her direct statement unsettled him and made him feel guilty all at once. Leave it to Luna to always tell the uncomfortable truth. “I ah… well…”

  She laughed, a pleasant and incredibly feminine laugh, “don’t worry about it; you’re busy being head Auror and all Harry.” Yeah, likes that’s any excuse. He scolded himself silently. Harry ran a nervous hand through his hair not knowing what else to say.

  “Well, uh… I’ll try and be more aware of you in the future…” his voice broke off almost as though he was asking a question. Suddenly Luna took his hand and squeezed it gently “I’d like that.”

  Harry was reeling from the soft pressure of her fingers wrapped around his palm and her close proximity. Then she smiled right up at him and he felt as though the wind had been knocked from his lungs.

  She was stunning.

  Luna Lovegood had quite possibly become one of the earth’s loveliest creatures. Her skin seemed to glow under the dim light of the hallway and her eyes shown bright from beneath her long blonde lashes.

  Harry leaned closer, his hand tightening around hers as he went. There was no possible explanation for the strong reaction he was having but he felt compelled kiss her.

  All he would need was a single taste, just one kiss and he would be able to live his life happy. Her eyes widened when she realized his intent but she didn’t pull away. If anything Luna angled her head just right and came closer.

  Their mouths were but a breath apart and Harry felt his eyes flutter closed in anticipation of contact.

  A loud bell sounded signifying the lift heading down broke the spell and they split apart. Harry watched as a clearly flustered Luna tucked a strand her hair behind her ear.

  Their eyes met and held but they both looked away quickly. It was then that Harry realized that he hadn’t pressed the button to go up to Hermione’s floor.

  Reaching around Luna and pressing it awkwardly as she got on, Harry tried to do anything but stare at her.

  Harry was mystified by his own reaction to her, despite their interruption the secret deviant in him made him want to get on the lift with her and give her the snog of her life.

  All it would take were the short steps forward.

  “Harry?” she called out as they door dinged to signal it closing, her voice breaking him away from his thoughts.

  “Yeah?” he met her gaze again and saw that thankfully she seemed happy.

  “Goodnight” she returned, gracing him with a small very Luna-like curtsey. It made him smile, and he ran his fingers through his hair sheepishly, she was just too appealing for her own good. “Goodnight Luna.”

  Long after she had gone, Harry found himself smiling at the thought of the small adorable witch that had completely captivated him with her ethereal beauty.

  Draco had an interesting evening meeting with the blonde CEO of a glass company; they had just signed a partnership contract for the bottling of Malfoy Industry potions. “Glad we could come to an arrangement Mr. Malfoy” his new business partner said as she leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs.

  Draco studied the blonde woman and could appreciate her easily apparent good looks. She had a tall slim body and was obviously offering him more than just her company’s services from the way that she sat.

  He felt slightly on edge around her though but chalked it up to the fact that he wasn’t himself lately. She gently pulled her skirt down but leaned forward exposing the curves of her breast while doing it. Her long hair falling smoothly off her shoulder as she went.

  Granger would never be as forward. Draco thought before he could stop himself, he felt his spine stiffen in response but opted to not think on it any further. He focused on the woman sitting in front of him.

  “Would you like to retire for the evening? We could talk more… business, at my place if you were so inclined.” The words left Draco's mouth mechanically, the same way they always did when he was in the presence of a beautiful woman. Just because Granger wasn’t interested didn’t mean that he was going to stop.

  That sounds like a wonderful idea.” Draco tried to remember what her name was, but only got the notion that it was French. He could have just as easily checked the contract she had signed but didn’t want to be obvious.

  Draco rose from his desk and took her hand leading her to the fireplace.

  As soon as they landed in the sitting room he pulled her close and tilted her chin up for a kiss. She smelled pleasant, the perfume was a bit heavy, but the floral smell was such a common one that he was used to it.

  Draco kissed her and allowed her to take control as she responded to his touch eagerly. It’s not good enough. He thought to himself seconds into the kiss. He didn’t feel a single thing, not a spark. But still there was a gorgeous woman grinding herself against him and surely all Draco had to do was try.

  Draco ignored the sinking feeling in his stomach and took a step back “let’s continue this in my room”. He tried to remember her name again but dismissed the thought as unimportant. He didn’t need to know this woman’s name in order to fuck her. He just needed to fuck her in order to forget Granger.

  Late in the evening there was a knock on Hermione’s office door. “Come in”, she called out, wondering who would be in the department that late. The door opened up a moment later and Harry walked in.

  Rising from her desk and giving him a smile, the two friends embraced. “You look like you need sleep Harry, how long has it been?”

  The dark hair wizard sat down in the chair across from hers. “Gee thanks, only three days.” Hermione shook her head “you really mustn’t work yourself that hard. You’ll kill yourself before your 25.”

  Harry nodded in agreement and then proceeded to tell her the details of the case that he was allowed to divulge but by the end of it she shared his fears. “Is there anything I can do to help? Maybe I could get authorized from Kingsley to help solve the riddle?”

  Harry sighed “I had thought of it a first, when things didn’t go so well for my Aurors but you’ve got you own work to do. Electromagnetic fields can cause more deaths than some threat from a potential nut job. The magical community needs your research; we need to find a way to overcome total magical disruptions.”

  He yawned and Hermione could see the bags under his eyes.

  “We had a team of 30 Aurors at Gringotts that night to protect the bank as all the protective spells went down. A fat lot of good it would have done if anyone had tried to attack, but still, your work is just as important as mine Mione. So while I appreciate the offer, we’ve both just got to focus on our own departments.”

  They were both silent for a moment and Hermione had to agree with his reasoning. These set of thunderstorms had been particularly bad. It would go a long way to discover a way to protect keep magic stable during the worst of the storms.

  Harry got to his feet “But let’s not dwell on work, are you finished for the evening?” Hermione nodded and quickly cleaned up her desk “let’s go home, we could both use the sleep.”

  The woman followed him closely as Draco led her down the hall of Grimmauld. She pressed him up against the wall by the staircase, once they reached the landing, giving him what he could imagine would have been a passionate kiss.

  Draco held her close and broke free from her mouth, trailing kisses down her neck. Her moaning was a bit too loud and rehearsed for his liking. Draco found himself comparing it to Granger’s sweet cries whenever he had done something to pleasure her.

  “Fuck” he whispered under his breath, the woman pulled back and looked at him quizzically. “Is something wrong?”

  “No!” he answered a little bit too forcefully. The blonde woman withdrew from his embrace and crossed her arms. “I find that hard to believe, you don’t really seem into this.” Her hand brushed against him through his pants. “I’d figure by now, he’d be all ready to go if you wanted me.”

  Draco closed his eyes for a moment, this could not be happening to him. At least before during his self-imposed celibacy he could still get a hard-on for the women he was pursuing. Now he couldn’t think past the night he shared with Granger.

  This is not acceptable; you can’t possibly expect to live like this! You need to get over this useless infatuation immediately!

  Opening his eyes, Draco leaned against the wall. “In this case, it’s not some pathetic cliché when I say that it’s really not you, it’s me.” He met her striking blue eyes and could once again appreciate her beauty.

  Draco was surprised when she smiled though, expecting some nasty backlash for his lack of interest. She straightened her dress and pushed her hair back off her shoulders, “It’s alright Draco, I can tell when a man isn’t interested. I hadn’t even expected you to invite me here.”

  Relief was a sweet sanctuary for Draco; he really hadn’t wanted to argue over this. She held out her hand to him and he stared at it oddly for a moment before meeting her gaze again.

  “My name is Celeste. I’m pretty sure you didn’t realize that you didn't pay attention when I introduced myself and since you didn’t look at the contract, I figured you probably didn't know it.”

  Then she shook his hand and Draco couldn’t help but frown at his own stupidity, he had been preoccupied throughout all his meetings thinking about Granger. His clients must’ve all noticed that he wasn’t truly paying them any attention.

  Celeste took a step away from him and gave him a thorough one over “who is she?” He felt caught out; surely he couldn’t have been that transparent. Draco stood straight “there’s no one, I’m just not up for this tonight.”

  She laughed at this and then sent him a disbelieving look. “Draco, you aren’t my type. I’m only here because I’ve heard from our many mutual female business partners that you were phenomenal. I’ve never heard of you turning someone down once they are here, either you are interested or not interested. So the fact that I’m not doing it for you clearly must mean that there is someone who currently does. I’m just curious to know who it is.”

  Celeste reached out a long slim hand and ran her fingers down his tie before grabbing it and pulling him close. Draco could feel the stirrings of something low in his gut, it was as though the longer he looked at her the more attractive she got.

  Her now subtle signals were working far better than her more aggressive methods earlier and for a moment he was relieved that he may be able to go through with it after all. Draco grinned at the thought and leaned in to kiss her but she turned her head to the side, before meeting his gaze again.

  “I’m part Veela Draco, the only way you could possibly been disinterested this long is if you’re in love. I’m using my charms to the fullest extent right now and you’re still only barely hard. So there must be a lovely woman who has managed to capture your attention.”

  Without proof, Draco what she was saying was true. It would explain the slightly edgy feeling he had while around her and the fact that she appealed to him still even though he knew that he wasn’t attracted to her.

  Celeste held his gaze as if to prove her point and began stroking his cheek. Shivers ran through his system and he could feel himself getting more and more aroused the longer he looked at her.

  What was most disconcerting however was not the fact that she was part Veela, but the fact that Celeste thought he was in love with Granger.

  Draco was a powerful wizard and he could easily avoid the lure of a Veela for that reason alone. Sure he couldn’t fight it so long as she maintained direct eye contact but that only further proved his feelings.

  There was no way that he was in love with Granger. Just the thought of that made him want to…

  Draco felt his breath catch as realization dawned and suddenly despite direct eye contact something broke between them. Celeste looked away sharply as though he had hurt her and Draco felt the rush of arousal subside.

  “You must’ve just realized it” she commented a moment later “you broke my spell. It was working slowly but it’s still not something that can be easily broken. It was quite a shock actually.”

  Draco pulled her close and held her chin in his hands checking to see if she was ok. “That didn’t hurt you though? You’re alright?” Celeste smiled up to him “you’re such a gentleman Draco, quite different from the evil man some still paint you to be. The woman that you love will be so very lucky.”

  Draco felt grim at the reminder and let her go “Look, I’m not good with this. Let’s not bother discussing it. I’m sorry for wasting your time. My lack of arousal really has nothing to do with you.”

  Celeste looked up to him with her clear blue eyes and smiled and he brushed the hair back from her face in return “you are a very beautiful witch.”



  Hermione laughed with Harry as they both came crashing into the sitting room. They had decided to jump into the floo network together to see what would happen. Granted it was a very dangerous thing to try but Harry brought out the reckless side in her sometimes.

  Hermione had just stepped into the hall with Harry directly behind her when they heard Malfoy’s voice ring out down the hall “you are a very beautiful witch.”

  The sound of his deep voice with the sight of him touching some beautiful tall blonde woman made Hermione’s body yearn with longing for more nights like that of the thunderstorm and tense in anger at the same time.

  “You are very sweet Draco. I’d love to get to know more about you” was the returned reply. Harry took a step forward and the couple looked up seeing them. Hermione kept her eyes on anything other than Malfoy but was frozen in place as he leaned close to his blonde paramour “follow me.”

  He took her hand and led her up the stairs. Seconds later the sound of a door shutting could be heard throughout the entire house.

  Harry turned toward her and shook his head “He’s quite the… Hermione?”

  Hermione changed her expression immediately and smiled up to her best friend. “I forgot something in the office Harry, I have to go get it.” Without another word she turned and rushed toward the sitting room, praying that her shaky voice hadn’t given her away.

  Draco leaned against his green door and tried to quell the pumping in his chest. Granger had looked so incredibly crestfallen and he hated that she could possibly make him feel guilty. He had felt as though he had been caught committing the worst possibly crime and it was ridiculous considering that she had been the one to reject him!

  “So I take it that Hermione Granger is the one then?” Shit! Draco had forgotten that he had all but dragged his guest upstairs to his room, in his effort to get away from Granger as soon as possible.

  When he looked up, he was greeted with a smiling Celeste standing in the center of his room. Interestingly enough she didn’t look all that amazed by the night sky backdrop, she was entirely focused on him.

  Sighing he pushed himself off the door and pulled off his jacket. “Would you like something to drink before going home?” She shook her head coyly. “I want something more than that.”

  Draco quirked a brow at the tone in her voice “Oh? And what’s that?” Celeste looked around the large expanse of a room before her eyes fell on his again.

  “I want to be a random stranger you confide it before disappearing into the night. I have my managers handle the majority of my contracts and I don’t live in this country and so you will most likely never see me again. But for tonight I want nothing more than for us to share ourselves with each other platonically.”

  Draco was slightly intrigued by the wording of her request but was weary none the less “and why would you want that?”

  Celeste took the steps toward him and began to undo his tie. “Tonight has been more fun than I expected and to be a mistaken love interest for Draco Malfoy, by Hermione Granger... amazing.”

  She held her hands together as if she was truly excited and Draco felt uncomfortable having her be privy to his deepest feelings. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a diehard fan of either of you. Granted I know who you are from the war but you’re just people and I think I live a more interesting life than both of you.”

  Draco felt the annoyance beginning to build and as if she sensed it, Celeste pulled his tie from around his neck and dropped it before pulling him further into the room. “My point is, things like this don’t happen in regular life Draco. For however long I’m in this room with you, you are in a love triangle. Albeit a shabby one considering you don’t want me, but a love triangle none the less. I want to hear the story of it, I want to know how you’ve come to love her.”

  Draco wondered why he wasn’t as opposed to the idea as he knew he should have been. “Why would hearing my problems interest you? You’re a complete stranger, and I’ve turned you down. Women normally don’t take well to that sort of thing.” A thought hit him suddenly and he grabbed her wrists in his hands.

  “If you secretly own some magazine, I assure you, you will not remember a thing once you leave this room.” She laughed at this and pulled her hands free “so suspicious Draco must be a lonely life to live. I’m not a reporter and I’m not out to get you, this is just me.”

  “Swear it.”

  Celeste pushed him down onto the piano bench before lifting her dress and straddling his thighs. Her long hair fell forward and she drew her wand “I solemnly swear on my magic, that I have no interest in exposing or harming Draco Malfoy in any way and that my interests in him are purely personal.”

  A quick light flashed from the end of her wand and she reached past him to set it down on the piano.

  “Interestingly enough, I write muggle romance novels. I live for these sorts of things. The great Draco Malfoy at a crossroads and he has to win the woman he loves one way or another. Your life and story are the stuff dreams are made of.”

  Draco didn’t know how he had managed to get himself into this situation but it was without a doubt the oddest possible turn of events that he had ever encountered. “That’s probably the most unusual thing I’ve ever heard coming from a woman. Maybe you SHOULD be a reporter.”

  Celeste began to unbutton his shirt and Draco was confused as to whether she had changed her mind about the sex or truly wanted to heat what was plaguing him. Either way he could tell that she was trying to relax him with her Veela wiles, and though he could think clearly Draco found he appreciated the thought of being able to confess to a stranger and have their memory wiped as they left.

  Draco groaned when she began massaging his shoulders and leaned back closing his eyes. There would be no harm in talking to her, Celeste had sworn a wizard’s oath and it was her prerogative if she liked the idea to hear about the romance of others.

  Draco was emotionally exhausted dealing with Granger and he didn’t know what to do. At the very least Celeste might have a useful advice considering she was a woman. Blaise wouldn’t be much help in a plan of action and Potter wasn’t even an option.

  Draco thought back to the events of the day and marveled at how things had ended up. He was hurting and frustrated.

  Celeste was proving to be more interesting than the usual women he brought home and a small part felt like he needed this. If not sex, than another outlet, somewhere else that he could blow steam.

  Draco opened his eyes and brought his hands down to rest on Celeste’s hips.

  For the first time in his life, he wanted to talk.

  Leave it to life to send me a counselor in the form of a beautiful woman who wants to listen to me while sitting in my lap.

  Hermione arrived back at Grimmauld hours later. After having a good cry and giving herself the pep talk of the century she felt better.

  She had known that Malfoy would move on to the next woman, she couldn’t begrudge him his looks. He was damn handsome and bloody amazing at what he did. So why wouldn’t he bring some tall leggy blonde home? A woman who was the complete opposite of Hermione’s shorter and curvier stature.

  Hermione brushed the ash off her clothes and turned to head to her room but jumped at the sight of Harry sitting on the couch. “Harry you gave me a scare, what kept you up so late, it’s well after midnight. You should be sleeping.”

  He rose and helped her out of her coat. “I was just thinking about the thunderstorm. I feel terrible that I wasn’t here for you. I saw Ron today at work and we spoke briefly about you and he mentioned that you didn’t end up at the Weasleys.” Hermione shook her head “floo was down by the time I realized the storm had hit, I just braved it here at Grimmauld and clearly I survived so no harm done.”

  “How did you survive it by yourself? I think whatever new coping technique you have is a great one.” He asked a bit too sharply. It was right then she realized this was more an interrogation than a conversation.

  Hermione averted her gaze “ah well you know, slept through it mostly.”

  “Hermione…” Harry asked and she could hear it in his voice. She looked up and could see that somehow Harry knew. He didn’t look upset though and she took that as a positive. Hermione had been sure that she would cause a rift between Harry and Malfoy for the way that she felt.

Just thinking about the way she felt ruined the effect of her pep talk. Her eyes began to swell with tears, there was no use in hiding it, and she was rubbish at lying to Harry anyway. She thought back to the sight of Malfoy and the blonde and was suddenly crying.

  This was all just unlike anything she had gone through in her life and she felt incredibly vulnerable. Loving Ron had never been like this and he had actually cheated on her. Sure she had cried, but she had never felt so crushed at the prospect of Ron with another woman as she did with Malfoy. It was all too much.

  Harry pulled her into a tight embrace “tell me” and just like that the entire story came bursting forth. She told him about everything she had been feeling from her first encounter with Malfoy, to the looped kiss in his room. She told him about the night at the hospital and the time she had spent with Malfoy after Ron broke up with her to the night of the thunderstorm. Every single detail she could remember that had made her happy she shared with her best friend.

Her heart overflowed with the memories, and she could only cry harder. By the end of it all Hermione only felt worse because in speaking about everything that had endeared her to their roommate, only reaffirmed her feelings for the handsome Slytherin.

  Harry eventually led her to the couch and just pet her head and wiped her face while she cried. Hermione almost wished that she could transfer her feelings for one man to another.

  Harry would have been a wonderful man to spend her life with but no, of course not. She had gone and done the worst possible thing she could have.

  “I love him Harry” she choked out between sobs, saying the words out loud for the first time. Harry just held her even closer “I know Hermione, I know.”

  Hours later, Harry carried his sleeping best friend to her bed and tucked her in before leaving and returning to his own room. Hermione had cried herself to the point of exhaustion and he only hoped that she would feel better in the morning.

  Stripping out of his clothes, Harry fell into bed and knew that he should go to sleep. But there were too many thoughts swirling around his head keeping him awake.

  Harry wanted to be angry, he truly wanted to be outraged on behalf of his best friend. But the feeling just wasn’t there. Somehow Malfoy had managed to make Hermione fall in love with him and even though he wanted to kill the blonde wizard on principle for making her cry. Harry felt equally as bad for Malfoy.

  It explained a lot about his behavior the past few weeks. Regardless of how it had turned out, Malfoy had clearly felt something for Hermione. Her description of the evening she spent with him didn’t sound like Malfoy’s usual style at all.

  For starters, Malfoy had proudly bragged a few years back about his two separate rooms for witches and muggles. He had never taken a women anywhere else and Blaise had always joked about the first woman that slept in Malfoy’s actual bed would become Malfoy’s wife.

  For the first to have turned out to be Hermione, Harry couldn't even say he was surprised. In all honesty it kinda made Harry glad for the blonde wizard, Hermione was just the woman that he needed. They complimented each other well and were both hard working and yet incredibly loving people. Malfoy was someone Harry could trust to take care of his friend.

  Harry was positive Hermione hadn’t ever meant to tell him the truth about the situation, but now that she had, he knew that he had to do something. Somewhere along the lines, Malfoy and Hermione had gotten their signals mixed up.

  Harry didn't know what had went wrong from the night of the thunderstorm to the next morning. But Malfoy and Hermione had clearly misinterpreted each other, and at the very least he could try to fix it.

  Draco walked his guest to the fire place in his study and took her hand. “Thank you for tonight. You turned out to be everything I needed and more.” Celeste turned and smiled and he was struck with just how truly beautiful she was.

  She was a good person, inside and out and had given him the best gift he could ever remember receiving from a stranger. Her delivery had been strange but now that Draco knew her a tiny bit better he understood.

  He hadn’t realized just how badly he needed to tell someone everything that he had been feeling for the past few months. He couldn’t explain everything to Blaise and Potter wouldn’t have wanted to hear it, but Celeste… she had welcomed it all.

  Letting go of his hand, Celeste turned and faced him as though waiting for something. Draco cocked his head to the side “what now?” She looked at the wand resting in his pocket “well aren’t you going to Obliviate me before I go?”

  Draco had intended on it earlier in the evening, but talking with her had changed his mind. Celeste had inspired him to confess his deepest fears and regrets. She had allowed him to be completely himself for the span of a few hours and it had meant everything to him.

  Talking out his feelings with her had been tantamount to any other form of therapy he could have paid for. Draco found in admitting just how hard he had fallen for Granger he could at least try and move passed it.

  A smirk found Draco's face as he felt hope run the course of his body. It would hurt him deeply at first but he would get over her. Draco would get over Granger.

  Celeste had reaffirmed his worth and reminded him of everything that made him confident in himself. She had been sincere and had talked him through every single fear he had shared with her.

  Draco was elated that his night had somehow brought him here with her and before he could even help it, Draco had pulled the tall blonde witch in his arms and kissed her.

  He wanted to tell her thank you in the best way he knew how and physically a kiss was his specialty. Letting her go and feeling the desire spike through his system, Draco was glad that Celeste had already divested him of his shirt earlier in the evening. It would make this much easier.

  “That was unexpected. I’m not even trying to charm you.” She said breathlessly as she took a step back and ran calming fingers through her hair. Draco could tell that he had riled her up and loved that at the very least he still had that effect on women.

  Draco leaned back against his desk “spend the night with me Celeste. Make me forget about Granger. She doesn’t want me and I can’t live like this.”

  Celeste looked genuinely shocked at his offer. “That’s her loss Draco, it truly is, because you’re wonderful and one of a kind but I can’t. This night has been unreal, we’re both caught up in the aftermath of a wonderful random encounter but we can’t let it get out of hand.”

He pulled her against his body and kissed her again. “Stay with me.”

Celeste pulled back from his embrace and Draco could see the color rushing to her cheeks, her breaths were heavy but still she shook her head. “You’ll regret this in the morning. You’ll regret me in the morning and that isn’t something I can live with now that I’ve gotten to know you a bit better. But…”

  Draco cut off her protests with his lips, this time picking her up and setting her on his desk. Stepping between her legs, he kept his mouth on hers as his hands began to run their course on their body.

  Celeste turned her head and met his gaze square on. “I will never be her Draco, and I will never be someone you can love. You won’t be able to replace her with any other woman until you let her go.”

"Then get me started on letting her go. I don't want to marry you. I want to be inside you." Draco bit down her shoulder and kissed across the smooth column of her neck. She gasped out and he found he liked the sound of it. This time Celeste was completely into it, she couldn’t pretend anymore just for the sake of sex, which reminded him of her earlier words.

  “Phenomenal you had called me earlier Celeste…” He grasped her chin between his fingers and took her mouth in another wild kiss.

  Draco didn’t care that what she was saying was true. He didn’t care how much it hurt that he would never be good enough for the witch he adored. Draco didn’t care that Granger’s rejection had broken his heart.

  All Draco wanted to do was forget everything for the night and as he apparated Celeste to the room he had designated for witches, Draco vowed to himself that he would never waste his time caring again.

  Draco tossed the blonde witch on the the bed and undid the fly on his pants. He pulled them down and off along with his briefs in one smooth motion before covering Celeste's quivering body with his own.

  “Let me show you just what phenomenal means.”

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A Match Made In Convenience