Fraternizing with the Enemy - Dramione

Ch. 4

She first noticed the stares as soon as she stepped into the Atrium from the fireplace the next morning. At one point in time she was used to hearing whispers as she passed through crowds, but those died off about halfway through her first year working in the Ministry as the novelty of her presence wore off.

Now, witches and wizards around her were whispering to themselves as she passed by, and her annoyance steadily grew. Surely it wasn't that big of a deal that Malfoy had visited her office the day before.

Thankfully no one spoke to her on the lift as she waited until level one, and eventually she was the last person on the lift. She gratefully exited and made her way to her office, surprised to find both Ginny and Harry standing outside her office door.

"What are you two doing here?" She asked, pausing a few feet away from them.

She noticed they had both glanced towards each other before Ginny looked back at her and said, "We just wanted to check on you and make sure you were alright. With Ron leaving I know you've been a little down."

The way she had said it made Hermione tilt her head, giving her friend an odd look. "I mean, yes, I'm down about it, but I'm doing alright I think."

Ginny opened and closed her mouth, faltering before looking back at Harry. Harry then asked, "You haven't seen the Prophet yet, have you?"

"No, I stopped subscribing before, when we were at Hogwarts..." Hermione trailed off as a cold feeling slowly washed over her. "Why do you ask?"

Harry's mouth formed a thin line and he gestured towards her closed door. "We should probably wait until we're in your office."

Hermione stared at him for a moment before stepping past both of them and waving her hand over the doorknob, opening the door quickly. Harry and Ginny followed her inside and she shut the door behind them, looking between the couple.

"You two know something," She started, not moving from her spot. "What is it?"

Ginny looked towards Harry again and he took in a deep breath before reaching into his coat pocket. He sighed the breath out as he pulled the rolled-up familiar paper out of his coat and then cautiously handed it to her with a grimace.

No one said a word as she unrolled the paper and searched the cover, one headline standing out amongst the rest: Chudley Cannons Keeper Seen With New Flame?

Beneath the headline was a moving picture of Ron, lip-locked with a beautiful woman who was clearly not Hermione. She couldn't pull her eyes away from the picture, her stomach both flipping and sinking.

It wasn't until she felt Ginny's hand on her arm that she realized she was starting to cry and that her hands were shaking.

"I..." The words caught in her throat as it tightened up and she finally looked away from the paper, looking at Ginny. "How could he do this?"

Ginny gave her a sad look and squeezed her friend's arm as she quietly said, "I don't know."

"He said there wasn't anyone else," Hermione continued, looking back down at the paper and gripping it tightly. "He said it was just space, just time apart."

"I don't think he'd put your relationship at risk like this..." Harry started, sadly grimacing before continuing, "...If he thought there was still a relationship to be had."

She stared up at him as more tears began to fall, her heart sinking as she slowly realized he was right. All of the sadness she had been holding back since Ron had left was now coming to the surface and she couldn't even try to hold it down; instead, she allowed herself to finally feel everything, dropping the paper to the floor as she leaned back against her desk and put her face in her hands. She felt Ginny rub her back as she let out quiet sobs and after a few moments she straightened up, looking up at the ceiling.