”So . . .” Draco began. He couldn’t find the right words for what he wanted to ask. He didn’t want to seem like he was prying into her life. The girl, of course, still hated him with probably every ounce of her being, even if she was sitting there with him at that moment.
“So what?” Hermione asked, as she called the bartender back over for another drink.
Draco looked at her and tried to read her facial expressions. The entire time they were with each other that day, she seemed as though she were in a bad mood, yet . . . she had accepted his invitation to have a drink. None of it made any sense. He thought that he would have repulsed her still and that she would have stayed with Harry and Ron.
“Well, I just wanted to ask you what was wrong. I know you said earlier that nothing was bothering you, but I don’t really believe that.”
Hermione sighed. She knew he would ask that question eventually. She had hoped that it would have been later instead of now. Ron had asked her the same thing, yet she didn’t tell him what was bothering her. So why should she tell Draco? For some reason, she couldn’t help but feel like he could help her with her problem, so she decided it would be best to just lay everything out for him.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t ask me that again,” she replied. “It’s not really the fact of what’s bothering me at this moment; it’s what has been bothering me.”
Draco nodded and encouraged her to continue.
“Well, you already know that Ron and I are sort of together. We have been since sixth year, basically. Things started out really well, but now . . .” her voice trailed off, and she looked down at the glass she was holding.
“Things are bad?” Draco asked.
Hermione nodded. “Things have been bad. All we do is argue, and it’s always over the smallest things. He could ask me a simple question, and I’ll snap at him. Or I’ll tell him that I want to be alone to just relax, and he’ll continue to bother me.
“The things I once loved about him, I now . . . hate,” she finished. She lifted the glass to her lips and finished off her drink. She hiccupped, and then turned her head to look at him.
Draco didn’t know what to say. He was never one who was good at sympathy, and he never had to give sympathy to this particular woman. He didn’t want to say the wrong thing, but then again, he didn’t want to not say anything at all.
“Oh, that sounds “ “
“Terrible, I know. I don’t want sympathy, Draco, honestly. I just . . . want to know why things just can’t go back to the way they were in the beginning.”
“Maybe these things were meant to happen. Maybe you two aren’t meant for each other anymore,” Draco suggested. He took a gulp of his Firewhisky and continued to stare at her. He noticed that her eyes had begun to fill with tears, and he hoped that what he had said wasn’t the cause.
“Actually, I think you’re right,” Hermione said in a low voice, choking back the tears that threatened to pour out at any minute. “I think I realised that a long time ago, but I just didn’t want to admit it. I still love him, honestly, I do, but it’s not healthy to be with someone when all you do is argue.”
Draco nodded again. It seemed as though that was all he had been doing the whole time. He couldn’t think of anything he could say that would make her feel any better, and he didn’t want to press his luck with her. The day had been going pretty well so far, and he didn’t want to ruin it at that moment, especially when Hermione needed someone whom she could at least talk to, even if it was him.
Hermione wiped her eyes and sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think that talking about this would upset me so much.”
“It’s understandable that you’re upset. It’s not easy admitting that someone you love isn’t worth your time anymore.”
Hermione gave him a slight smile. She never realised how much she and Draco had in common. For her, the person she loved was a boyfriend, but for him, it was a parent. She couldn’t imagine the pain Draco was in from not being able, or not wanting, to speak to his father. She was fairly close to her own parents, and it pained her to even think of the idea of not speaking to one of them for more than a week, let alone the rest of her life.
“So, you said you lived near London. How’s that going for you?” Hermione said in an attempt to change the subject.
Draco laughed. “It’s much harder than I thought it would be. I can’t do magic out in the open like I could at my parents’ house. Of course, I use it all the time in my own home and wherever else I can.”
“Do you talk to any of your neighbors, or do you just keep to yourself?”
“I mainly keep to myself. There are a few ‘hello’s and ‘how are you’s’ exchanged here and there, but nothing more than that.”
Hermione couldn’t keep herself from laughing. Just the image of Draco actually speaking to Muggles cheered her up. A Malfoy being friendly to Muggles was not something that anyone would have expected, not even Hermione.
She looked up at the clock hanging on the wall, and she realised that it was starting to get extremely late. She couldn’t believe how quickly the time had flown, and although she knew that she should go back to the Burrow, she didn’t want to. She didn’t want to ruin her cheerful mood by arguing with Ron again that day. She also didn’t want to have to argue with Harry about the same thing. The only problem with that was . . . she had nowhere else to go.
She could go to her own home, but she knew that her parents would be asleep by the time she arrived. They still didn’t know how to work the Owl Post, so she couldn’t send an owl to let them know she was coming home early. There weren’t any telephones at the Burrow. She sighed and tried to think of where she could stay so that she could try and avoid Ron and Harry for at least a little while.
“What’s wrong?” Draco asked, making Hermione jump at the sudden sound of his voice. She had forgotten that she was sitting there with him while she thought about everything.
“Oh, um, nothing,” Hermione lied. She attempted to fake a smile. She couldn’t remember how many Firewhiskys she had drunk, but she knew that it had to have been a lot. She was starting to feel the effects of the drinks, and she knew that if she stood up there was a slight chance she would lose her balance.
“It can’t be nothing. Just by the look on your face, I can tell that something’s wrong. Just tell me.”
Hermione sighed. “Fine, it’s just that it’s getting late, and I should really be getting back to the Burrow, but . . .”
“You don’t want to deal with Ron, right?” Draco finished for her as he nodded his head. “Well, you could always, um . . .”
“I could always . . . what?” Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow.
“You could “ um “ stay at my house, that is, if you wanted to,” Draco said. He lifted his glass to ask the bartender for a refill and to avoid looking at Hermione.
He couldn’t believe he had just invited her to his house. He had the feeling that she would say no before he had even mentioned it, but she was desperate. There was a slight chance that she would say yes, and the thought of having company over excited him. No one had been to his home besides his mother who frequently came to check up on him. She didn’t like the idea of him living alone near London, but she also knew that there wasn’t anything she could say or do that would change his mind.
“Oh, well . . . I “ um “ I guess that would be nice,” Hermione stammered. She could have kicked herself for accepting the offer, but she knew that she had no other choice if she wanted to avoid Ron. She hoped that Draco at least had a comfortable couch she could sleep on, or, assuming his mother probably would have helped him with paying for the apartment, he may have had a guest bedroom with a nice bed.
“Really? You really want to stay there with me?” Draco asked with the total shock of her acceptance showing in his voice. He watched as she slowly nodded her head, and he couldn’t help but smile at her. After four years of not speaking to anyone he had gone to Hogwarts with or anyone at all for that matter, someone was finally going to stay at his house with him. He never used to enjoy company, but there was only so much alone time a person could stand before driving themselves mad. Draco was close to that point.
“Yes, really I would like to stay there. It’s a whole lot better than going back to the Burrow. I know I’ll have to go back eventually and face the consequences, but hopefully that could wait a little while,” Hermione replied, smiling back at him.
“Well, shall we go then? So I can show you where you’ll be sleeping and such?” Draco said, sliding off the stool.
“Yes, let’s go,” Hermione said. She jumped down from the stool, but before she turned to leave the pub, she stopped to finish the full glass of Firewhisky the bartender had brought over to her. She shoved her hands in her pockets to find her money, but Draco placed a hand on her arm to stop her.
“No, I got it. Keep your money for something you really need,” he said. With that, he paid the man, and they began to walk towards the door that led out into Muggle London.
Seen In a Different Light by TCole
Chapter Notes: Again, another thanks to my amazing betas. =D
Chapter Endnotes: Thanks for reading. What did you think? Let me know! =D