#wml6

He and Lavendar had been talking about moving in together for some time so he decided that he would give that a try. Hermione on the other hand would have to find a new place for herself. The place they were sharing was too much for her to afford on her own and she didn’t want to keep the home they had lived in together anyway.

She spent the day out trying to find a reasonable apartment for herself and so far, wasn’t having any luck.

Frustrated and seriously stressed out, she decided to visit Diagon Alley and have a drink at the Leaky Cauldron. She had just sat down at a small table in the corner with her drink when she noticed a familiar blonde headed in her direction.

“Oh, shit.” She said to herself as she smiled at him.

She had no idea what to say to him and was hoping for more time before inevitably seeing him at work Monday morning.

He finally reached her table and she noticed that he looked a bit on edge and nervous. She couldn’t recall the last time she had seen him look anything but confident.

“Granger. Fancy meeting you here.” He said to her in a weird voice.

He cleared his throat and motioned at the chair across from her, “Mind if I join?”

She waved across the table, “Of course. Sorry, have a seat.”

She was so surprised by his presence that she had completely forgotten her manners.

He sat down in the chair across from her and they both looked at each other without knowing what to say. The awkward silence hung in the air until she couldn’t take it anymore.

“Look, I..” She blurted out but was cut off by him blurting something at the same time.

They both smiled.

“Sorry. You go first.” She said before he could get another word out.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably and took a sip of his drink. He started to say something but hesitated.

‘Damn it. He’s going to ask about last night.’ She thought to herself and felt her stomach flutter in nervousness.

He took another sip of his drink and as he set it back on the table he started to speak finally.

“Were you planning to go to the Potter’s tonight for their ‘friends’ night’? He said the last bit sarcastically.

He swallowed hard as he finished the question. He couldn’t believe how nervous he was. He never felt this way and it was embarrassing to say the least.

He was already starting to regret their drunken exchange. He liked the relationship that they had. They were good friends and things were going well between them. He hated the thought that he might have messed it all up by letting things go too far.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as she responded.

“Oh crap. I completely forgot. That’s tonight?”

She glanced down at her muggle watch and was clearly aggravated at the time. She ran her hands through her hair and took a deep breath.

She was definitely not in the mood for friends’ night. Not today but she knew that she didn’t have much choice. She hadn’t seen Ginny in way too long and she knew that she needed to talk to her and Harry about her upcoming divorce.

‘Damn it.’ She thought again.

“Yes, I will be going.” She sighed loudly and nodded her head.

Draco snickered at her response.

“Don’t get too excited now.” He said playfully.

She couldn’t help but grin back at him.

“I’m sorry. It’s just been a really stressful day and I have to be at their house in a couple hours. It’s the last thing I feel like doing right now but I need to see them.”

Draco’s brow furrowed in question.

‘I hope she’s not stressed about last night.’ He thought quickly to himself.

Hermione, saw the question in his eyes so she decided to elaborate.

“Ron and I are officially separated, and we are getting divorced.” She said slowly.

She felt her heart clench and she had to stop. She felt like her life was falling apart.

“I’m so sorry, Granger. If there’s anything I can do or some way that I can help, just let me know.”

He sounded so sincere. He really had become a good friend.

“Thank you but unless you can help me get into a decent yet affordable apartment…” She trailed off.

She took a sip of her drink. She felt lost.

“Actually... I do have a connection that I could get you in contact with. He was really helpful when I was searching, and he got me a great price.”

He shrugged; he wasn’t sure if she would accept the help. She could be very proud sometimes.

Her face lit up and she smiled. “Seriously! That would be amazing! Thank you!”

She was so relieved and excited to have the help. She couldn’t bare the thought of more apartment hunting and failing.

Draco was surprised as her response and her enthusiasm at such a little thing.

“Not a problem.” He responded. “I can bring his contact information this evening.”

‘Shit.’ She thought and she quickly stood from the table.

“I almost forgot… again. I need to head home and get ready, but I will see you there. Thank you again.” She quickly grabbed her purse and threw money down on the table before walking out.

Draco sat there a bit dazed by the quick exit but happy that he would be able to help her in some little way with her problems. He went to add his payment to hers but realized that she had put enough to pay for both of their drinks.

“Sneaky witch.” He said, then he stood from the table and walked out.

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Later that evening, Hermione found herself hesitating at the door of Harry and Ginny’s house. They had a nice little starter home not far from the Ministry building. It was nice and cozy, nothing too big or extravagant but it worked nicely for them and their needs.

She finally gathered enough courage to face the evening and her friends and was about to knock when she was interrupted by a familiar voice.

“You want me.” He said in a low voice as he walked up next to her.

“Excuse me.” She squeaked back quietly in surprise.

She felt her belly flip in excitement at his words and gruff voice.

“You want me to knock?” He said back with a smirk as he pointed to the door.

She felt like an idiot, and she felt her cheeks blush bright red.

“Oh.” She laughed and took a step back from the door to give him access. “Go ahead.”

Draco knocked a few times and it only took a few seconds for Ginny to answer the door. She opened the door with a big smile on her face and stepped out of the way so they could enter.

“Come on in you two.” She said happily.

Draco took a step back and motioned for Hermione to enter.

“Ladies first.” He said.

Hermione laughed softly and slowly walked past him. She walked into the building and made her way into the living room where her other friends were already sitting and talking. Draco entered behind her, but he walked past her and stopped to stand across the room.

Ginny closed the door and walked over to Hermione. She pulled Hermione into the kitchen and gave her a big hug.

“I’ve missed you. It’s been way to long since the last time we saw each other.”

Hermione hugged her back and was suddenly happy that she forced herself to show up for the friends’ night. She was feeling less stressed with everything now that Draco had offered some help and she felt her heart lift while hugging Ginny. This was just what she needed… quality time with good friends.

Before she could say anything back, Ginny pulled back and grabbed Hermione by her shoulders. She looked her in the face and gave her a questioning look.

“What?” Hermione spoke slowly. She never knew what would come out of Ginny’s mouth. She was a great friend, but she very rarely used a filter when speaking to people. Whatever was on her mind usually came blurting out of her mouth.

It was a fun quality but when she gave weird looks like the one she had right now, it was usually something crazy that would pop out.

“Did you and Malfoy come here together? Ginny’s questioning eyes felt like they were burning holes into her soul.

Hermione pushed Ginny’s hands off her shoulders playfully and laughed.

“What? No.” She continued laughing.

Ginny relaxed a bit but still wasn’t sure what to believe.

“Don’t laugh. It looked like maybe you two were together. I mean he was definitely checking you out in that dress and I know that you and my stupid brother have been having issues.”

She stopped laughing abruptly being pulled back to reality and the crap mess that was her life.

She sighed loudly before responding to Ginny and her unfiltered crazy talk.

“Ginny. Seriously. We did not come together. We are just friends, and he most certainly was not checking me out.”

Ginny laughed this time and took a step closer to Hermione.

She leaned close and whispered in her ear.

“He was devouring you with his eyes.” She leaned back and continued in her normal voice. “Trust me.”

Hermione felt her belly flutter. She swallowed nervously.

“Well, it doesn’t matter either way and I really need to talk to you and Harry about something important. There has been a lot going on and I need to talk to you both about it.”

Ginny sensed the seriousness in her tone, and she dropped all playfulness.

“I’ll get Harry.” Ginny walked out of the room without hesitation and left Hermione standing alone in the kitchen feeling really nervous.

She had no idea how they were going to take the news of her and Ron’s separation. She hoped it wouldn’t be too upsetting for them, but she knew that she wanted to let them know personally before they heard from another source.

She had wanted Ron to be there with her so they could tell them together, but he sent a letter back explaining that he had already promised to spend the evening with Lavendar. He apologized and said that he could do it another time but that he was fine with whatever she decided to do.

She was a little peeved about his response, but she figured that he didn’t really owe her anything anymore since there were no longer together. It felt strange to think of herself as being single again. She thought that she had her life figured out.

She had a great career which could be a little demanding of her time, but she loved it anyway. She had a home and a husband. She thought that she had managed to accomplish most of life’s big occasions but apparently, she had faltered somewhere and now she was paying the price for it.

‘At least I still have my career.’ She thought as she tried to calm the storm of emotions deep inside her chest.

“Can we talk?” A voice interrupted her downward spiral of thoughts.

She spun around and met the gaze of Malfoy who was standing at the entrance of the kitchen.

She took a deep breath to calm herself and smiled at him.

“Of course. I’m about to have a difficult conversation with Ginny and Harry but I can find you after.” She spoke softly and hoped he couldn’t hear how nervous she was.

He looked disappointed but accepted her answer.

“Okay, talk soon.” He said gently and turned away to walk out of the room.

As he walked out, Harry and Ginny walked in.

Ginny eyed him suspiciously as she walked past but didn’t say a word. For once, she filtered her thoughts and kept them to herself.

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“I knew it! I knew my stupid brother would fuck it up somehow!” Ginny said way to loudly when Hermione finished explaining everything that had happened between her and Ron.

“It’s not all his fault. Our marriage hasn’t been working for a long time.” Hermione tried to hold herself together, but she felt a few tears fall from her eyes.

She wiped them away quickly, but she knew that they saw. She grinned at them and took a deep breath to clear her head.

“It’s fine. I’m fine. I hate that things didn’t work out but I hope that Ron finds happiness. We will try to be friends and I hope that we can all still get along and do things together.”

She cleared her throat as she finished the long sentence.

Ginny reached across the table and grabbed one of Hermione’s hands into her own.

“It’s okay, Hermione. We are here for you no matter what.”

“That’s right.” Harry chimed in.

Hermione smiled at them.

“I don’t want to ruin your friend’s night. I just wanted to let you both know what was happening. Let’s all go back to the party, and we can talk more later if you want. I just want to relax and try to enjoy the evening.”

They all stood up from the table and started to walk out of the kitchen when Ginny stopped and turned to Hermione. She smiled in that way that made Hermione nervous. She clearly just had some kind of bad idea.

Ginny told Harry to go ahead, and she would meet him in the other room with their friends.

“It makes more sense now.” Ginny said.

“What does?” Hermione asked slowly and knew she would regret asking.

“Why Malfoy was so interested. He knows about you and Ron, right?”

Hermione furrowed her brow in question and was nervous to answer her.

“Yes, he knows. We ran into each other today and we talked about it.”

Ginny pulled her closer.

“He knows that your single now and he’s interested.”

Hermione laughed.

“Right. Malfoy interested in me. I don’t think so. Besides, I literally just got out of a relationship. I don’t think now is the time to start something new.”

She shook her head in disbelief. ‘Ginny and her wild ideas.’ She thought sarcastically.

Ginny stopped smiling and looked more serious. She took a step closer to Hermione and put her hands on her shoulders. She looked her in the eyes and spoke softly.

“Hermione. I am sorry that things didn’t work out between you and my clearly mentally ill brother. To be honest… I was surprised you two lasted this long.”

Ginny paused as she saw Hermione’s surprise at her statement.

“Come on Hermione, you two are completely different and you fight all the time. Even before you started dating. You should take this as a good thing and find someone that you are compatible with. Someone that excites you and challenges you.”

She paused and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“Who knows… maybe that person is Malfoy.”

She leaned back and smiled again.

“Ginny… I don’t know.” Hermione replied.

Ginny sighed loudly and let her hands fall from her friend's shoulder.

“How long has it been?” Ginny asked.

“How long since what?” Hermione responded in confusion.

Ginny looked at her like she was dumb.

“Seriously? Don’t play dumb. How long has it been since you last had sex?”

“Ginny!” Hermione almost shouted at her friend.

They both laughed and smiled at each other.

They both settled after a minute and Hermione looked at her friend seriously. Then she bit her lip. She felt comfortable talking to Ginny about these things, but she knew that her response to her answer was going to be loud.

“We’ve only had sex twice in a year and the last time was about 6 months ago.”

She looked at her friend nervously as she knew what was coming.

“What!” Ginny yelled way to loud.

She cleared her throat and tried to compose herself.

“What!” She said in a lower voice.

Hermione shifted anxiously and felt her face flush red.

“Look, I don’t have a lot of spare time with work, especially lately with all the extra case load. Plus, we have been fighting all the time and then I just kind of forgot about it…”

She was cut off by Ginny almost shouting at her again.

“Forgot! How do you just forget to have sex?” She asked as she looked at her like she had lost her mind.

“I was busy okay. Then there was this distance between us, and I knew that things weren’t working. I guess that’s when he started having an affair. We both stopped trying.”

Ginny gasped loudly and her mouth was open wide in shock.

“I don’t know how you did it. I can’t go longer than a week before I’m attacking Harry. How are you not ready to explode? You have got to be crazy horny right?”

Hermione laughed then pulled Ginny closer as she responded.

“You have no idea.”

They both paused when they heard a loud crash just outside the room they were in. They looked at each other and shrugged.

Ginny smacked her playfully on the arm.

“Well, what the hell are you doing then. My brother has clearly moved on, you should to. If you aren’t ready for another relationship, that’s fine but you can still find somebody to help you with your needs. Damn! Go find Malfoy and fuck his brains out.”

“Ginny!” Hermione yelled at her friend.

“Oh, come on Hermione. He is into you, I know it. Plus, he is seriously attractive. If I wasn’t married, I would probably try to get in on that action.”

“Oh my… Ginny.” Hermione laughed.

She shook her head and they laughed as Ginny turned around and pulled Hermione with her to the living room where all their friends were still talking and laughing with each other.