Dramione - In Sync

14

Hermione is not ready to talk about her and Draco but she's excited to have dinner with the girls now that they are back to being friends.

Ginny joins her and Luna 15 minutes late, in their spot by the lake.

"Sorry, my boyfriend thought it'd be a good idea to take Teddy out on his broom and I had to supervise them."

Hermione laughs. "It's fine, Gin. I am glad you made it. What are you having?"

And once they bought food and drinks from the nearby shops, they settle down by the lake, spreading the food on the ground.

"I love night camping. Gossips are added bonus." Luna munches on her fries.

"And we will get plenty of it tonight, Lu. Care to share, H?"

She raises her brows in shock. "My personal stuff is gossip to you? You wound me, girls."

Luna looks ashamed. "I didn't know how else to get the conversation started. That's why we are here, aren't we? I am sorry anyway."

Taking her hand, Hermione pouts. "It's okay, Lulu. I was just kidding, I know you guys care about me."

"Ugh! Drama queens! Hermione, I am not gonna ask again."

"Alright, alright." She sighs. "As you know, I was hiding from the world, drowning in alcohol when he found me. And one thing led to another and we um..we slept together."

"Wow. He must have really impressed you to get you into bed that fast, huh?"

She shakes her head at Luna before continuing. "It was just physical at the time. I was hating me and everything around me, he was a welcome distraction for my thoughts. He made me forget pain, he created a huge bubble where he and I were the only ones existing, I didn't see anything beyond him during those days."

Ginny moves closer to her. "What happened then?"

A sad laugh breaks free. "Reality. He had to oversee the construction of his boutique."

"What?" Luna exclaims. "Draco owns a boutique?"

She nods. "Story for another time. Anyway, after that I met him a few times, we talked over the phone but something doesn't feel right. I don't know what and it confuses the fuck out of me."

"Wow, it must be really affecting you if you are cursing so easily." Ginny observes, now tucking a strand of hair behind her ears. "So it was just physical between you two?"

She nods.

"Do you want it to be more?"

Well, that's the damning question isn't it? One that keeps playing over in her head every night. One that she keeps hidden away in the deepest corner of her heart.

"I'd say that's answer enough, Gin." Luna gives her a hard stare.

"Honestly, I don't know." She confesses. "But I keep hurting him, I guess. Because he gets weird or pulls away from me and I don't know how to fix it."

"Did you guys end it on good terms?" Luna asks. "Like did you tell him 'we had a good thing, now that real world calls, you can go, we will be fine?'"

Hermione chokes up, remembering their conversation when he found out he has to go. "I was crazy, Luna. I insulted him, I said he was pathetic, I almost literally threw him out of my place." She wipes the tears now flowing freely.

"You're a fool, sweety." Ginny takes her in her arms. "You couldn't let him go, you masked your true feelings with anger."

Hermione raises her head, blinking away the fresh tears. "Do you think so, Gin?"

Luna responds. "It's obvious, H. He sprung the news on you, you couldn't process it."

"Yeah." She says, softly. "He shouldn't have done it so suddenly."

"What should he have done, Hermione?" Ginny asks her.

"Are you a trained interrogator or something?"

Ginny laughs. "Go ahead with your story."

She swallows before talking again. "We met for dinner. He looked so handsome that day, all soft and charming." Clearing her throat, she resumes. "But it was too intense, you know? Too intimate. And I handled it poorly again."

"By that you mean you pretended to act aloof so he won't think you're getting attached to him. Right?"

And she gulps. Her mouth dry, she keeps staring at her friend, no words coming out.

"You have some special powers, Gin, I am telling you. Anyway that's exactly what I did. But in my defense, I could not look foolish in front of a man who has absolutely no feelings for me."

"And you know this how?" Another tough one, this time from Luna.

"He's Draco! Of course he doesn't catch feelings! He has girls lining up every night."

Ginny shakes her head and pins her with a stare. "So you're telling me you forgot his past enough to get into bed with him but not enough to even consider he might have changed emotionally?"

She is silent for a minute before asking the question that has been in her mind for many days now. "So you don't judge me for getting into bed with him?"

"Of course not." Ginny answers easily. "You think I hold on to what happened when we were in school? Hermione, I am not Ron. I can be mature. The only reason I was furious with you was because you didn't tell me what you were going through, not because I was judging you! To me he is just another hot guy who had a rough past."

She engulfs Ginny in a tight hug. "I am sorry, I doubted you. But you're right, you know? He is changed, he has opened a boutique in a muggle town! He feels guilty of the things he did, that's why he was also hiding from Hogwarts, he still doesn't know how to face everyone from our world."

"Your voice gets really soft and smooth when you talk about him, I've noticed." Luna observes, now shooing a moth.

Ginny winks and Hermione feels her cheeks redden.

"So many new things, huh? Draco owns a boutique, Hermione is blushing, what else?"

"Enough, Gin." She warns. "I actually need your help. I would like to see him regularly, not just in some social events. Tell me how to do that."

"Tell him whatever you just told us."

"Our adorable weirdo is right." Ginny adds, earning a glare from Luna. "You have to talk to him. Apologise for the times you feel you hurt him and see how it goes from there."

She knows it is the logical solution and that is the exact reason she didn't want to have this conversation in the first place. She is not ready for logical.

----

That evening, back in her place, she receives a ping. From Draco.

"I am coming over."

What? She scrolls a little upward to see a text she apparently sent to him, inviting him to her new place. She groans. Luna or Ginny must have sent it when she wasn't looking. And he's coming over? She is in her PJs, for fuck's sake!

Before she could even type out a message to him, a soft pop sounds right next to her, Draco Malfoy has apparated to her bedroom!