Hermione smiled as she waited outside at Gringotts bank, having decided to meet up there with Draco three months after he had come back from France. It had been a quite long while in those three months. They hadn't had an opportunity to meet up anymore, so they had to rely on only their visions through their minds.
So, as the beginning of August hit and they would be back in Hogwarts in less than a month, they had decided to go get their supplies together, seeing this as a great opportunity to meet up before school would start.
"Hey there, stranger." A voice came from behind, close to her ear. Biting her lip, she wheeled around to see Draco with his hands in his pockets, his usual suit on. A lazy smirk hung on his lips, and Hermione couldn't help but let a grin form on her face. It was amazing that they had the ability to talk to each other and see each other through their minds, but nothing could compare to the real deal.
"Long time no see." Hermione joked, knowing fully well they had just been watching each other this morning. It had become quite a routine over the months to casually watch each other, start their morning routine together and it especially became a habit to stay within reach of objects that would give the other a reflection.
Eyeing him, she considered going in for a hug, but the way his hands were in his pockets would surely result in an awkward encounter. As if reading her thoughts – which a second later she stupidly realized he could – he took his hands out of his pockets and gave a chuckle.
Still feeling a bit embarrassed when it came down to physical contact, after all, they spent more time communicating by mind than they had ever done face to face, she cleared her throat awkwardly before deciding that after four months of dating she really shouldn't feel so awkward with him. Regardless of the lack of physical contact.
So she pushed those feelings aside, and immediately went in for a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. His arms all too soon snaked around her waist, and she let out a sigh of satisfaction as she inhaled his scent. Something that was still a bit unfamiliar to her, but all the same very comforting. It smelled different than when they had hugged at the war, but that was bound to happen.
This time, it had more of a cologne smell to it, yet as her face went more from his clothes to his skin, she could smell a scent that was entirely unique to him, one that she simply couldn't put into words.
Biting back a whine of protest as he forced her arms loose, she was soon shut up as he smugly smirked, leaning his head forward and capturing her lips without a doubt. Her hand made it to his cheek, and she embraced the softness underneath her fingertips, letting her other hand rest into his as their fingers intertwined.
Midway through the kiss he suddenly froze, and with a frown on her face she broke the kiss, about to ask what the problem was, until she listened. "..- not believe that the Hermione Granger would go for a Death Eater like him?" One witch whispered to a friend, and as soon as she saw Draco snapping his head to them, they quickly looked down and scurried away. Yet, those two weren't the only ones talking.
"It's disgusting, I had higher expectations of someone who helped win the war." This time another woman wasn't so embarrassed about her comment, and kept her voice at a normal volume. "It's a wonder that the Malfoys are still allowed to freely wander about. It's not a secret they joined You-Know-Who, now is it?" The other one replied in equal disgust as her friend.
Deciding that was enough, she averted her eyes and attention back at Draco. There he was, his usual wall back up again. No sign of emotions, and a clear, blank mind. Don't do this. Hermione sighed to herself, mad at the world for ruining their meet up. Heck, they didn't even know what they were talking about. Do what?
His eyes finally focused on her, and she gave his hand an extra gentle squeeze, wanting him to know he wasn't alone. Shut yourself out. "Come on, this is going to be our day. Let them say what they want." Hermione continued aloud, willing herself to use her voice more around him, knowing she couldn't rely on their mind reading for the rest of their lives.
Draco began to open his mouth, and without giving him a chance to argue, she tugged him along with her, forcing him to walk as they pushed themselves through crowds that had formed around them not long ago. "It's not like we didn't expect this to happen, right?"
"I know." He curtly replied, and she knew he was still struggling with it nonetheless. "I want to go to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes today, by the way." Hermione announced, and nearly tripped as he came to an immediate stop. "What?" She innocently asked as she turned to look at him, being met with the most annoyed face she had ever gotten from him. "If you're trying to cheer me up, I can assure you it is not working." He grimly spoke, earning him a smirk from her.
"I just want to pass by and see how things are going. Ron said he'd help George out, since, well.. you know.." Hermione trailed off, not wanting to say it aloud. Draco looked down, a sense of guilt written on his face. Bringing her hand up to his chin, she lightly lifted it up, willing him to look at her. "Hey," she softly spoke, "it's not your fault, okay? You played no part in that."
Draco released a sigh, averting his eyes from hers. "Let's just go and get it over with." He said, and Hermione sighed, nodding as they picked up their pace again. She sure did picture today a bit more happy than this. Then again, that might have been a bit foolish to do. They both knew that confrontation was something they couldn't outrun from forever, yet, they had hoped they could have tried.
Hand in hand they walked down the street, plain out ignoring any comments or any stares. Draco tried to let go of her hand at some point, but she refused to let his go. Embarrassed to be seen with me? She challenged him, even though she knew it was the other way around. Or at least, she knew that is how he would see it. In her opinion, however, she was far from embarrassed. If anything, she was proud of the man he was becoming. Not at all. He replied honestly. Good. And with that, they continued their walk.
He tried a couple of more times as the comments got worse, but she firmly stuck with her opinion. Let them watch, let them talk. It didn't matter to her, honestly, it didn't. All the things that were coming out of their mouths – heck, half of those people had not even participated in the war. They had no right to speak.
Escaping the whispering streets, they entered the joke shop, the familiar ringing of the sound announcing their entrance. It seemed rather quiet, although that might have been because too many people were out busy watching them.
"Hello and welcome to- oh hey, 'Mione." Ron said, popping up from behind an aisle, a box with the shop's logo in his hands. Then she saw his eyes travel down to their intertwined hands, and saw the amount of restraint it took him to remain calm. "Malfoy." He spoke very curtly, barely glancing his way, yet she appreciated that he didn't ignore him all together. Or lash out on him for that matter. Draco didn't say anything at all, but still remained well mannered and offered a curt nod in acknowledgment.
"Hi there, Hermione." George said, walking down the few stairs as he came into view. "Lighten up there, brother, else your muscles will pop harder than our very own Exploding Whizz Poppers." George joked, giving Ron a gentle slap on the shoulder – which made Ron jump slightly up in surprise, forcing his focus away from Hermione and Draco – and even though it was nice to hear George joke again, she couldn't help but notice the sadness behind his eyes. Yes, the smile that went along with his comment definitely did not reach his eyes.
George gave a quick glance Draco's way, but wisely kept his mouth shut. It seemed like he neither wanted to mingle in it, nor ignore it. Hermione cleared her throat softly, giving Draco's hand one last squeeze before letting it go and taking a few steps towards the two brothers. I'll be back in a minute.
You better make it a minute. Came his grumpy response. And as she turned to look over her shoulder, she could see him turning his back on them, his eyes lazily scanning the people out on the streets as he turned away from them. "How's working in the shop?" Hermione asked, grabbing Ron's attention, who had been intensely staring at whatever Draco did. "It's been all right, I s'pose. Was just filling up some products." He said, nodding down to the box he was still holding in his arms.
"Yes, business has been going great ever since we opened two months ago." George added, and Hermione gave him a warm smile. "That's really good to hear." She tried to put some enthusiasm into her voice, but it got lost halfway through as she saw George lowering his eyes to the ground. She could see in his every way of moving how much he missed Fred having by his side. "So, what brought you here?" George said, quickly changing the subject before the silence became too much.
Glad for a change of subject – knowing that talking about the joke shop had created some sad memories – she tried for a smile once more to keep the mood light. "We're just picking up our school supplies. Figured I'd hop in and say hi now that I'm here, anyway." Hermione explained. "Well you're welcome any time." George said, and she gave a grateful smile.
Both of the boys' eyes suddenly drifted to the shop windows, and with a questioning look, she turned around to see what they were looking at. There a group of teenagers had formed, pointing their fingers against the glass, each one of them taking turns to stick their heads to it as their eyes drifted from Draco to Hermione.
Growing more and more frustrated, she was glad that George came in with a joke. "Blimey, Hermione, you two are more famous right now than Harry was at the Triwizard Tournament." She watched how Draco turned his back to the girls, and had no choice now but to face the three of them. "Tell me about it." Hermione huffed in aggravation, turning back to Ron and George.
Then a horrible thought struck her. Draco? "Well, we better get going. Seems like our little visit here has brought you two some new costumers." Hermione said, and George gave a light chuckle. "Yes, thanks for that. Next time we're running slow, I'll just owl you and make you two model for our shop." Yes? Hermione gave a chuckle, shaking her head at the comment. "I'll be awaiting your owl, then." What if word reaches out to your parents? Plenty of witnesses here who have seen each other together. It didn't occur to her before, but she only now realized how risky they were actually being.
Hermione had been so excited about finally seeing him again, that she hadn't thought about the possibility of outsiders reaching out to his parents. They're bound to find out at some point. Although, let's hope luck's on our side today. "Good luck at Hogwarts, 'Mione." Ron spoke up, and tried his best for a smile. Hermione returned it and thanked him, wishing them both the best at their shop before joining Draco at his side. But what if they do?
We'll figure it out then. Hermione sighed, the answer not putting her to ease at all. Draco opened the door, letting her go out first, his hand laying protectively on her lower back as he followed her out, forcing their way through the group that was trying to push their way inside the joke shop. "Hey," Draco spoke aloud, his voice serious. "We'll be fine." He assured her, then focused his eyes back in front at the street.
"Where'd you wanna go?" He casually asked, as if they didn't just discuss the risk they were taking. "The bookstore." Draco groaned loudly, but Hermione raised a threatening eyebrow at him, daring him to argue. "It's not like you don't need books yourself. We both have plenty to buy for this school year." She reminded him, but he simply rolled his eyes. "Doesn't help in the slightest bit." Draco complained.
Scoffing, she just tugged him along with her into the bookstore, expertly making her way to the right aisle for their books. They both scanned their lists, and broke apart for a little while as they both searched for their required books. After she had gotten those, she just lingered for a while at a different aisle, seeing if there were any other books worth buying.
"Oh, hell bloody no." Draco said, having found her at last. "We are not doing this a second time. You've got enough books to last yourself a lifetime, Granger." He said, a futile attempt at trying to get them out of there. "You can never have enough books, Draco." She dreamily spoke, her attention too focused on the book she was currently looking at.
Yet, with a sigh she put it back on the shelf. He was right in a way, though. Not long ago she did spend quite a sum of money on books already. She would just have to wait for a while to buy more, and treat herself after she had graduated. "I think in your case, Hermione, one can definitely have enough books."
Deciding to ignore the comment, she simply wandered off to the counter, paying the owner for her school books, and waited for Draco to do the same. Back on the street they were, and this time it was Hermione's turn to loudly groan as he came to a halt at the Quidditch supply store. Hermione was about to open her mouth to complain, but he quickly pressed a delicate finger against her lips, raising both his eyebrows in a warning manner. "No, you do not get to argue. You've had your fun with your books, now let me have some of my own."
Knowing he was right, she simply smacked his hand away from her lips – although making sure it wasn't too hard – and followed him inside with a few grumps. Standing in the far left corner of the shop, she waited – rather impatiently – for him to finish looking around the shop. It almost seemed like he took his sweet time on purpose as he once in a while came to a halt at certain points in the shop and simply stood there for a couple of minutes, shooting her a teasing smirk once in a while.
Well, as much as it got on her nerves, she was glad that it seemed to help distract him from everyone around them. Even when they were in a simple shop they still got stared down by both customers and employees. Yet, Hermione had quickly learned to just ignore them.
At last Draco paid for a broom he had been staring at for over at least ten minutes – and she was betting that only half of the time was actually spent on determining whether he wanted to buy it or not – and they were now positioned in a small café where they sat at a table in a hidden away corner of the shop. It was the perfect place to just have some quality time together without everyone staring them down or pointing fingers at them.
Draco had ordered himself a Butterbeer along with some fish and chips, and Hermione chose to simply order the same thing, not really caring what she would be putting in her mouth. It was only to keep her energy up after an entire day of walking, anyway.
They spent their time waiting in silence, and as she got lost in thought, her hand absentmindedly rolled up her left sleeve and her fingers were now tracing the scar, which held some rather deformed letters forming the word 'Mudblood.' It was as if she was in a trance, simply staring at the scar without the slightest hint of emotion, tracing the lines where a knife had once been deeply cut into her arm.
It therefore nearly scared her to death when Draco put a hand on her scarred arm, and rolled down the sleeve with ease. "It doesn't define who you are." He softly said. Hermione slowly looked up, meeting his eyes that held a hint of sadness behind them. It seemed like right now he didn't feel the need to mask the emotion up, and she figured he might wanted to let her know that what he said was sincere.
Hermione attempted a smile to show him that she appreciated the comment, but it came out more like a grimace. "You once used to think it did." She felt ashamed for bringing up the past, but she needed to get it off her chest. It was the simple truth, after all.
Draco lowered his eyes momentarily to the table, leaning a bit back in his chair, his hand gliding away from her arm. "Yes, well, I was a bit close minded at the time." His voice came out rough, a storm of emotions masked behind it. "But I mean it, Hermione." Draco continued, bringing his eyes up to meet hers again. "You're worth so much more than what is carved into your arm."