Life after Hogwarts - A Hermione & Draco x Dramione Story

Chapter Fiveteen

Draco was in a horrendous mood the entire week. He figured his mother would have caved on day three and he would have had an apology and the two of them would have finally had an understanding when it came to who he was, what his future would be, and who he'd be spending it with. By Wednesday, Draco managed to pick up some of his habits from the old days - which included snapping any anything with a pulse. He managed to make his secretary cry twice on Thursday, and Friday, he berated the check out girl for not scanning groceries fast enough while he and Hermione were at the store. She was ready to choke him, completely mortified by his behavior.

He'd been short with Hermione most of the week, but she'd been blowing it off. She was pretty sure that while Draco may have been fine with the threat of making a choice, he'd never have to actually do it. But reducing a teenage girl to sobs because she wasn't scanning groceries at lightning speed was the last straw. Once they were home, Draco dropped off the groceries he was carrying in the kitchen and marched upstairs, viciously yanking at his tie. By the time he retreated back downstairs, Hermione had the groceries put away, and was loading the dishwasher with last night's dishes. She said nothing as she watched him wrench the fridge door open, swiping a beer from the shelf before slamming it shut. He caught her staring at him as he turned around, her arms resting across her chest as she leaned against the countertop.

"What?" he barked.

She went to snark something back at him, but instead bit her tongue and shook her head. "Nothing," she replied, a twinge in her tone that took some of the tension out of Draco's shoulders.

He placed his beer on the island with a thud. Dragging his hands through his hair, he dropped his head and sighed before looking at her again. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not sure I'm the one who needs an apology from you this week," Hermione said, a bite in her tone. "But certainly don't start passing them out unless you mean it."

Draco's nostrils flared for a moment before another sigh escaped his body. "I'm just so bloody frustrated," he admitted. "I don't know what to do."

"Well, I can't tell you what to do," Hermione said. "But I also cannot deal with this. If choosing me is going to turn you into the old you - I don't want any part of it."

"Hermione - "

"You made a bloody girl cry, Draco!" Hermione shrieked. "Trust me when I say she doesn't make enough an hour to put up with you screaming at her like a bloody lunatic regarding the way she does her job!"

Draco pounded the butt of his fist into the kitchen island, causing everything to shake. "You think I don't fucking know that! We've been engaged for a bloody week and it's been nothing but miserable!"

Hermione knew what he meant by miserable, but it didn't cut the sting from his words. Swallowing hard, she blinked her eyes a few times to dry the tears threatening to form. "It's not been a picnic for me either."

The two of them locked eyes. They hadn't been in a state like this since she first moved into his house. He watched as her left thumb fiddled nervously with the ring on her finger. "Hermione..."

She held up a hand, silencing him. "Just...don't. I'm going upstairs to take a shower."

"Hermione please - "

Hermione walked over to him and kissed cheek before going upstairs. Her eyes said everything her mouth couldn't speak as they looked at each other for a second. She dragged a hand from his shoulder down his arm as made her way towards the stairs. Draco watched her disappear, a migraine forming between his temples. This was not how this week was supposed to go, and he was mentally kicking himself for letting it go to hell. Maybe his gut was right. Maybe proposing to her wasn't a good idea - maybe he was right in that it was too soon. He took a large swig from his beer before plopping it back down on the counter. Swearing, he walked over to the floo, clad in a white t-shirt and flannel pajama bottoms. He knew what he had to do to fix this.