A Rake, A Spinster, And An Arrangement

Chapter 15 : When Love Is Not Enough (Ep 3)

Hermione stood at the top of the steps, looking down to the ballroom below. They were late, very late, and many were already dancing, but at least they had arrived. It had taken hours to get her hair tamed to pin up, to find the right dress, to dry her eyes long enough that they were not red...

She had cried until there were no tears left, and she was simply in a state of shock.

The Duke... Draco... whatever had been between them was all a lie. What she had known all along, that love was stupid, that it wasn't real... well, she had never been so angry to be right in her entire life. She should have known better, should have listened to Harry.

She could have married Ron, and while she would have hated it, at least she wouldn't be feeling like this. At least she wouldn't be feeling like everything was falling apart, like she couldn't breathe, couldn't think.

Hermione already knew she would not be able to sleep that night. It was the only reason that she had even agreed to come to the ball with Ginny. Harry had refused, knowing he would likely start a scandal, first attacking Draco, and then anyone else that glanced his sister's way.

As for the Duke of Norfolk...

Hermione had not even begun to process the letter. She would have to respond, eventually, but without a husband by her side to protect her...

She was half in a daze, even now, as she stood looking down at the ballroom.

The Duke was there. She had not expected to see him again so soon, nor even at another ball. Why would he attend tonight, if he was not in want of a wife? He had no reason to be there.

Lady Parkinson was missing, but the Duke of Nottingham and the Marquees of Salisbury stood on either side of him, and both were watching her, their faces solemn. Neither pointed her out to the Duke, but after a moment, he looked up at her.

Their eyes locked, and she felt her heart break all over again. He was so... beautiful. So tragic. She knew things about him that she should not, loved him in a way she had never thought possible, and she could not understand what she had done wrong.

She looked away and instead looked down the steps, knowing she must walk down them. Every other ball that she had attended, gentlemen had been leaping over themselves to see her, to speak to her, but the Duke, he had always been there, right there, ready to take her hand.

Not today. Today, he was unmoved from the back of the room, and she knew when she reached the bottom...

Every eye in the room seemed to turn her direction as she and Ginny moved down the steps together. She could feel Ginny glaring at her, likely doubting their attendance, but...

If Hermione did not attend, they would speak. Why... why would she not be in attendance? And then, for she and the Duke to go separate ways...

It must be known that Hermione had moved on, so that the suitors would all know she was once more available, and interested in finding a match. She had to set the narrative, before it was written for her.

She was near the bottom of the steps when her foot slipped, and she could see it all crashing around her, that this was it. She was going to make an absolute spectacle of herself, breakdown crying hysterically, be seen as a fool and a child, and then the Duke of Norfolk would sweep in and take her away, labeling her hysteric, and she would be locked away, and-

She felt a hand take hers, another hand on her lower back, catching her, keeping her from falling. She let out a gasp in surprise, then looked up, foolishly expecting to see Draco looking down at her, his grey eyes kind once more, a smile clear on his lips while he teased her, whispered her name.