A Wonderful Fortuitous Love

31. Just Like Old Times

Lunch proceeded as though nothing had ever changed. The only slight differences were that each member of the family, when they greeted her, held on tighter to Hermione than they had ever done. Like they were afraid she would slip through their fingers again.

She was very glad that no one had made a fuss, especially Mrs. Weasley, who she’d half expected to burst into tears. But it never came. She talked and laughed with everyone like old times, and at one point during lunch, Hermione ended up laughing so hard that she had had to excuse herself from the table. You could have taken a photograph of the scene and compared it to an older Christmas lunch before any of it had ever happened and see no change… Except for one.

Ron could not seem to keep his eyes away from Hermione. They flickered up every time somebody addressed her, and when someone tried talking to him, he would cringe. She didn’t really understand his actions, because it’s not as though he looked unhappy about her presence. On the contrary, she swore she saw something flash through those blue eyes of his when he saw her wearing his jumper, something that refreshed her memory of why she missed him so. But the look had been gone as soon as it had came, and so Hermione locked that thought away and told herself now was not the time to ponder over such things.

After lunch, she spent some time speaking with Fleur and her three-year-old daughter, Victoire, who was all too eager to talk about her new baby sister Dominique and new cousin on the way. This led to Angelina smiling and talking about possible baby names with Fleur. Hermione couldn’t really pitch in and help even of she wanted to because she was terrible with names and a lump was forming in her throat that prevented speech anyway. Thankfully, or maybe unthankfully, depends which way you looked at it, she was saved by Fred and George who told her never to stay away for so long again and then began discussing their newest creation, a Santa Claus hat, which, when put on the unsuspecting victims head, reveals all their most recent or worst embarrassing moments. Hermione felt the familiar disapproval at this and both twins laughed, telling her their inventions were never as much fun without her reactions.

After what felt like a long time watching both boys tease and argue with Percy, Hermione was pulled away by Ginny, who rolled her eyes and muttered, “Boys,” under her breath.

Once away from the tent and out in the garden, the redhead slowed down and began a slow walk around the garden, Hermione walking alongside her.

They listened to the crunching of their own footsteps in the snow for a while, and then Ginny started talking like there was no tomorrow, telling Hermione everything she had missed out on since her six-month absence. And she found that it was so easy to talk to her than she’d thought it would have been. When she was done discussing everything, they joked and giggled just like they used to. And while she appreciated it, Hermione wondered how Ginny could just so comfortably talk to her, because surely she must have heard about hers and Draco’s arrangements by Harry? Surely the whole lot of them know? It was with great differently, once their laughter had subsided, did Hermione ask.

Ginny breathed out in a way that told Hermione she had been expecting the question to pop up eventually. She lazily kicked some snow ahead of them and took her time in replying.

“Of course we know about you and Malfoy. How can we not? Harry told us, then it was in the Prophet, and obviously we’ve heard from people like Dean and Seamus asking what’s going on.” There was a pause, and then she laughed, almost to herself. “It’s strange how something so simple such as two unlikely people working and living together becomes such a big deal.”

The sun was beginning to set, and Hermione looked at that as she spoke. “And how do you feel about that? Dra – Malfoy and I.”

She shrugged, not noticing her slip-up. “Mad at first, I guess. It was so peculiar and I felt sure he must have some ulterior motive. I’m still kind of expecting someone to drop dead from all this. But Harry assured us all that you knew what you were doing and took precautions. He didn’t tell us what those ‘precautions’ were exactly, but I trust him, and I trust you. So if you think it’s safe to trust Malfoy on this, then I – we – believe you.”