Come Find Me | Dramione

Chapter 17: Happy Birthday To You

*TW* domestic abuse, infidelity, violence

Hermione kept herself busy.

She cleaned things that didn't need to be cleaned, read books she had already read before to pass the time until she could run by Flourish and Botts to get new ones. She wrote letters to her parents and to Ginny and Harry, which rarely got replies. Worked late and went in early.

Anything to stop her mind from drifting.

She had successfully given up the pills. It was excruciating. The hallucinations only got worse as the days went on until finally, she woke up feeling herself again, just in time for Malfoy and her hearing with the Wizengamot.

Malfoy, who had been the subject of many of her hallucinations. Malfoy, whose arms were strong yet gentle as they wrapped around her waist. Malfoy, who had stupidly confessed that he felt something for her in the darkness of a janitorial closet only a few weeks before.

She liked to believe she was the type of witch who was prepared for anything. She fought in a bloody war when she was only a teenager. But nothing in all of Europe could have prepared her to feel the way she did for him.

And that was the most painful part – knowing that she reciprocated those feelings but having to walk away instead.

She had made the decision to stay with Ron. She loved him, and he needed her. And now, every time she so much as thought of Malfoy, her stomach twisted with guilt.

It wasn't right to feel so strongly for a man that was not her husband. It was messy and out of character.

She had spent the past few weeks creating as much distance between the two of them as she could manage. She ate lunch alone in the Ministry cafeteria, only spoke to him when it was work-related, and kept her eyes glued to her desk, just hoping that maybe one day she wouldn't get butterflies deep in her chest when she sensed his presence entering a room. Hoping that her cheeks wouldn't flush at the sound of his voice or the way his hands looked as they wrapped around a quill so delicately.

Shaking her head, she returned to her book. It was Sunday, and she had decided to reread The Picture of Dorian Gray for the hundredth time, lying on her sofa at home.

It was a good distraction. Ron would be home any minute from working late, and they would eat the dinner Hermione had already prepared.

The sound of wings flapping startled her as Pig flew in from the living room window, surprisingly holding a letter from Ginny.

She opened it up and read:

Mione,

It's so nice to hear from you! We've missed you guys terribly.

Baby James is excellent; thank you for asking. However, he seems to have inherited his father's knack for trouble.

Harry and I were talking, and we'd love to take you and Ron out for dinner and a drink at the pub for your birthday this weekend.

We also agreed that we aren't taking no for an answer. We'll meet you in Diagon Alley at eight.

Love,
Ginny

Just then, the green flames of the Floo came to life, signaling Ron's return from work.

"What's that you got there?" he asked.

"A letter from Ginny. They've asked us to dinner for my birthday on Friday," she answered, handing him the parchment. "Do you think we can go?"

He read through the letter and handed it back to her. "I guess we have no choice," he grumbled, loosening his tie and heading for the kitchen.