A/N: Hahaha, I knew you wouldn't like what happened. But I'm glad that most of you understands this isn't over. I know I've created a mess, but I will solve it... hopefully.
I just want to add that it's not my intention to create evil! Ginny here. She's a very complex character, and I hope you'll try to understand her motives (not that I like her...)
Thanks for the reviews. Emily was, as always, the beta reader.
Chapter 13 - Again
April 2003
Hermione Granger was sitting on a rocking chair, in the porch of her small house in the outskirts of London. She had a book on her lap, but she wasn't really reading it. She was watching her son, Daniel Malfoy, a two year old, quiet boy, play with Crookshanks, the cat they had bought as soon as they had moved to London about a year ago.
She couldn't really complain about her life. Draco was a loving husband. He helped her around the house and Daniel simply adored him. It was true that the Malfoys didn't live the great life. Hermione had resigned to her job as Lady McGonagall's secretary (Although the war was over, the old woman had stayed in Spain). She had wanted to get a job when they arrived to London, but Draco had refused.
"I don't want my wife to work," he had said. "I'll earn enough for us to live well. Daniel needs you to be with him."
Normally, Hermione would have argued to this attitude, but she didn't for two reasons: First of all, it seemed awfully important to Draco to prove that he could sustain his family without anybody's help, and second, it was true that Daniel needed her.
It wasn't that he was a complicated boy, but he didn't feel at ease with strangers. Usually, he would hide behind Hermione whenever someone who wasn't Draco approached to him. Hermione often wondered if this strange behavior had anything to do with all he had gone through when he lived with Ginny.
Draco currently worked in the Ministry. He didn't have an important position, so he didn't earn much. However, he was fond of wasting a lot of money in things that Hermione would've hardly considered necessary. Soon, she had been forced to look for a part time job to cover the expenses. She was currently the Wizarding London Library librarian, and worked there from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. She enjoyed that job a lot because she had plenty of time to read. Her neighbor, Lavender Brown, took care of Daniel while she was at work, and then Hermione took care of Lavender's kids in the afternoons.
"Danny, it's getting cold! Let's get in the house!" she called out to him. Daniel looked up and reluctantly, grabbed Crookshanks and followed his mother inside.
It was just then when an owl came through the window and flew directly to Hermione.
"What's this?" she said, receiving the letter the owl gave to her.
"Hermione,
How have you been? It's been a long time since I last heard from you. I'm in London now, and I would really like to talk to you. Would you come to have lunch with me tomorrow, at my house? Please, send me your response with this owl.
My love and regards, Ginny"
Hermione gasped. She hadn't known anything of Ginny since she had sent her that letter, telling her she could adopt Daniel. What did she want now? She immediately turned to look at his son. Was this about Danny? Had Ginny changed her mind?
She looked at the address that Ginny had written in the letter. It was one of the fanciest neighborhoods in London. Maybe she had reunited with her brothers...
Although she was afraid of what this might mean, she wrote a reply saying she'd be there at 1:30 the next day.
* * *
Later, when Danny was already sleeping and Draco and her were having dinner, she decided to bring up the subject.
"Ginny owled me today," she started.
Draco looked up. "What did she want?"
"She wants to see me. I don't know why... Do you think it could be about Danny?" she whispered.
He shook his head. "She can't take him away from us, Chiquita. We've adopted him. He's our son now."
"I know that, but I can't help to be worried."
Draco smiled at her, reassuringly. "She probably just wants to catch up with you. How did she manage to come to London, though? I thought she wasn't allowed to enter this country."
"Maybe they realized she wasn't a traitor after all," Hermione said, shrugging. She wanted to be happy for her friend's presence there, but she couldn't.
"Everything will be fine, don't worry," he said, kissing her hand.
Hermione smiled at her husband. Later, she would remember that night as the last happy one in their marriage.
* * *
The place where Ginny lived was the biggest house that Hermione had ever seen. It had at least one acre of garden before you reached the actual manor. It was amazing. What had happened? She knew the Weasleys had been a wealthy family, but not enough to afford a life like that.
A house-elf opened the door and smiled at her.
"You must be Miss Hermione Granger, miss. My name is Dobby, miss. Please, come in, the Lady is waiting for you."
Hermione thanked him and entered in a big and fancy living room, where Ginny was sitting. She looked absolutely beautiful. She was wearing a short, white dress that fitted her perfectly, and had her head up in a bun. Hermione looked at her plain jeans and blouse and suddenly remembered how she used to feel uncomfortable when Ginny was the rich girl next door.
"Hermione, I'm so glad to see you," Ginny said, hugging her.
"Me, too," Hermione said. It was true, she was actually glad to see Ginny, but she was too worried to enjoy it.
"What's wrong with you?" Ginny asked.
"Well, it's just that I'm a little bit concerned," Hermione said. Being the sincere and honest person she was, she thought it was better to ask her directly.
"About what?"
"About my son."
Ginny arched her eyebrows. "Oh my, you certainly don't think I'm here to interfere with that, do you?"
"You're not asking me here for that?" Hermione asked slowly.
"Of course not! He is your son now, after all. And, if I remember correctly, you swore we would never talk about it again. I just wanted for us to meet again, that's all."
Hermione grinned. Now she could be completely happy. "That's a relief. So tell me, what happened to you? Did you win the lottery or something?"
Ginny laughed. "Sort of. I got married."
"You did?" Hermione asked with widened eyes. "Tell me all about it!"
"All right, I'll tell you while we eat by the pool," she led her to a table outside, where Dobby had just served a roasted turkey.
Hermione was about to ask again about Ginny's husband, but she cut her off.
"Come on, tell me about you and Draco. You've been married for a year now, how are the things with him?"
"Pretty well," Hermione said. "The three of us have a nice life."
"Do you have a job?"
"Yes, I recently started working as a librarian. It wasn't enough with just Draco's salary."
"A librarian?" Ginny asked, staring at her. "You graduated with honors from Beauxbatons, I would have expect you having a more important job now that the war is over."
"Well, I like being a librarian. It's a very interesting job and it gives me plenty of time to be with Danny."
"You're amazing. You work and you take care of a child... Aren't you planning to have another one?"
"Maybe later," Hermione said. She really wanted to have a kid, but the economical situation wasn't the better right now.
"Daniel must have grown a lot," Ginny commented.
"Gin, I should have written to you to tell you about him..."
"Why?"
"Well, because..."
Ginny leaned forward and grabbed Hermione's wrist. "Is this how you keep your promises, Hermione? You didn't have to write me about YOUR son. I have nothing to do with him."
Hermione nodded. She couldn't help but realize that Ginny's eyes were colder than before. "You haven't told your husband about him, have you?"
"No, and I swear I'll kill the one who dares to tell him." It didn't sound like an empty threat and Hermione noticed little goosebumps along her arm where Ginny had grabbed her. Ginny let her go and smiled again. "Tell me more about your life."
Hermione spent the next twenty minutes telling Ginny about her job, Daniel and Draco. Ginny didn't give her the chance to ask about her husband, until Dobby showed up.
"Should I serve the dessert, Mrs. Potter?"
Hermione's glass slipped, but luckily it fell on her lap, and not to the floor. She turned to Ginny. "Potter?" she repeated, cleaning her lap with a handkerchief. It was too much of a coincidence. There were a lot of Potters, but...
Ginny sighed. "Oh, Dobby has ruined the surprise... I didn't want to tell you until you saw him with your own eyes. I married Harry. Isn't it amazing? Life is full of surprises."
In her numb state, Hermione managed to smile. "Wow, that's incredible... Um, where's the bathroom?"
Once in the bathroom, Hermione felt her knees giving way. She sat on the cold floor, with her head on her hands. Breathing heavily, she was doing a huge effort to stop the tears welling up in her eyes. Ginny and Harry were married. She couldn't believe it. But then again, why was she feeling betrayed? After all, she was married too.
Of course, it was true that she would've never accepted Draco's proposal if Ginny hadn't told her about Harry's letters. "He left you, Hermione," she said to herself. Harry and her were over a long time ago. It was natural that a handsome, rich and charming wizard like him would get married sooner or later. And, of course, he wasn't going to do it with a poor and plain muggle-born like her. He was better with a glamorous and beautiful rich girl like Ginny. Yes, they were the perfect couple. She had to be happy for her friend.
Hermione stood up and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was pale. She washed her face and practiced her smile. She was grateful that the house-elf had ruined Ginny's surprise. She didn't know what she'd have done if suddenly Harry had appeared in the house.
That's right. Ginny wanted Hermione to see with her own eyes her husband. That probably meant that Harry could arrive any minute. She couldn't see him right now. She had to leave that house immediately.
"Ginny," she said, when she went back where Ginny was sitting, "I'm terrible sorry, but I have to go. Time flew, and I have to pick up Danny. He's with my neighbor, Lavender, but she's busy in the afternoons..."
"Of course, I understand," Ginny said, smiling warmly. "I'm so glad to see you again. Now that we both live in London, we'll be able to see each other often. I'll give you a call to meet again."
"Fine," muttered Hermione, walking towards the front door, followed by Dobby and Ginny. "Bye."
Ginny stayed in the front door until Hermione disapparated. The smile she had worn during the lunch left her face. She had called her to find out about Daniel, but she hadn't been prepared for that stupid connection between Hermione and her. That love she felt for her friend was still there. She frowned, filled with anger. That woman was a Granger. She couldn't be her friend anymore.
* * *
When Harry arrived an hour later, he found Ginny sitting next to the pool, still frowning.
"Is something wrong?" he asked gently.
Ginny looked up and change her expression immediately. "Oh! No, honey, I was just thinking..."
Harry sat beside her. "Dobby told me that someone came to have lunch with you. I didn't know you had a guest."
Ginny smiled. She hadn't told Harry that she had called Hermione. She wanted to check her out first. "Yes, it was my old friend, Hermione Granger... Malfoy, remember her?"
Harry became tense immediately. "Hermione Granger?" he repeated.
"Oh, Harry, you have such a frail memory," Ginny said, laughing. "That muggle-born girl who lived right next to me in Daguerre..."
"Oh, yeah, how is she?" Harry asked cutting a small flower growing between the grass and looking at it.
"She lives here in London," Ginny said. "Since she's my oldest friend, I thought that it would be nice to start seeing her again..." Harry remained silent. 'He's probably not very interested in hearing about Hermione' Ginny thought. "We could invite her and her husband tomorrow to have dinner with us, what do you think?"
Harry stood up. "No," he said.
"Why not?" she questioned.
"Because... I'm tired, I don't want to stay up late," he said, turning away from her.
"But what will she think? Hermione has been very nice to me... She might think I'm rejecting her for living in a miserable house..."
Harry frowned and went into the house.
'What's with him?' Ginny thought, deeply confused with her husband's behavior.
* * *
Later, when Harry had turned off the light on his nighttable, Ginny decided to bring up the subject again. She had been thinking the whole day how to convince Harry to establish a relation with the Malfoys, and she had come up with a good idea.
"Hermione lent me some money..." she started.
Harry, who had just put his head on the pillow, turned to look at Ginny, who was still sat up. "When was this?"
"Just after the Liberation, when I was living in a dump worse than Saint Ouen."
"You never told me that," he said quietly.
"No, I didn't." She hadn't told him because it had to do with Daniel. "She lent me three hundred galleons. It must have been a lot of money for her. After all, she was just a secretary..."
"Did you return the money to her?"
"No... We lost contact a year ago..." she paused, expectantly.
"Then we should probably see them," Harry said in an expressionless voice after a while.
Ginny kissed him on the cheek. That was exactly what she had expected. She had to be in touch with the Malfoys to go on with her plan. Everything was going to be alright.
* * *
The next day, Ginny's head appeared in Hermione's fireplace just when she was arriving home. She invited Draco and Hermione to an "informal party" at her house, that Saturday. Hermione politely declined the offer. It would be bad enough having to see Harry again, but spending a whole evening with the Potters would be unbearable. Ginny seemed frustrated with her answer.
"I'm sorry, Ginny, but we can't afford a baby sitter," she excused herself, lamely.
"What about that neighbor of yours?"
"She'll be out this whole weekend. I'm really sorry."
"Well, if you arrange something, let me know, all right?"
Hermione promised she would, but she had no intention to arrange anything. She really didn't want to go to Ginny's house again.
But she wasn't counting on Draco's opinion of the subject.
"Ginny called..." she started that night.
Draco looked at her, slightly concerned. "To talk about Danny?"
"I told you that she's the one worried that we might talk, Draco," Hermione said. "She invited us to a party at her house this Saturday. I told her no, of course."
"What do you mean 'of course'?" he asked, grabbing a piece of bread from the table. He looked angrily at her. "Did you tell her the usual- that your husband can't even afford a babysitter?"
Hermione sighed and avoided his stare. They had gone through this kind of conversation millions of times before. Draco was always worried about what the others thought of him, especially when it involved money.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" he continued. "Don't you know that Harry Potter is an important man? If he's giving a party, a lot of people will go, people that we'd want to meet. Think of all the chances I'd have of getting a better position in the Ministry."
"I didn't think of that," she said, softly.
"Of course you didn't! You never think about anything but yourself!"
She glared at him. How could he say something like that? "I'm sorry, Draco," she said, with a cold voice. "I can call Ginny and accept her invitation, if that's what you want."
"Why bother? You probably already told her how useless I am. Now she must be thinking about the competence of the person she gave her son to..."
"Shut up!" Hermione whispered furiously, looking at the closed door of Daniel's bedroom. Although he was asleep, he could wake up any minute.
Draco stood up and left the house, shutting the door angrily behind him.
* * *
"Ginny, if it's not too late, we'd like to accept your invitation..." Hermione said through the fireplace.
"Wonderful!" Ginny said. They cut the connection.
"Who was it?" Harry asked, entering in the living room in that moment.
"Hermione. She's coming this Saturday."
"Oh."
* * *
Draco arrived way past three in the morning, with a strong smell of alcohol. Hermione was waiting for him awake. He looked at her, embarrased.
"I'm an idiot, huh?" he said.
"I called Ginny. They're waiting for us this Saturday," Hermione said, before leaving for her room.
* * *
"Is it OK that we didn't bring anything?" Draco asked, staring at the manor in front of them in awe.
"Yes, there was no need to," Hermione replied, tightening her cloak. She was incredibly nervous. What if she started crying when she saw Harry? Or maybe she even fainted, like those women from the romance novels she sometimes read.
Dobby, the house elf, opened the door and grinned at the couple. Ginny appeared a second later.
"Draco," she said, kissing him in the cheek. "It's been such a long time. I'm so glad you could make it. What a lovely dress, Hermione!"
Hermione smiled. Her plain blue dress, that she had made herself, was nothing beside the black, strapless dress that Ginny was wearing. She looked around. She wasn't expecting so many people to be there. It was better like that; it would be easier to avoid Harry.
She spotted the Minister of Magic among the crowd. He was talking to a tall man, with a long white beard. His face was slightly familiar. Draco was in pure bliss. He followed Ginny, who introduced him to a group of wizards in a corner. Hermione didn't go with him. She was looking anxiously among the crowd, to see where he was. She couldn't find him. He was probably in the garden...
Ginny approached her after leaving Draco. "Come on, Herm, I want you to meet some people," she said, grabbing her friend's arm and leading her to a small crowd.
"Everyone, this is Hermione Malfoy," she introduced her. She then apologized and left to meet some other friends.
"Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Malfoy. You were formerly Granger, weren't you?" It had been the tall man with the long beard who was the one who had spoken to her.
"Yes, how do you know?" she asked, surprised.
"My name is Albus Dumbledore, I'm the Headmaster of Hogwarts School," he explained. "Madame Maxime told me about your academic achievements in her Academy."
"She did?" Hermione asked, surprised.
"Of course. I was wondering if you'd accept a job in my school," Dumbledore offered, smiling.
"I would love to, but I can't," she said. She couldn't leave her son alone.
"That's a shame," Dumbledore said, as if he was expecting that answer. "Well, if you ever change your mind, don't hesitate to floo me."
"I will, thank you, sir," Hermione said, smiling.
Suddenly she felt as if the air had just disappeared. A tall, black-haired man had just stepped in the living room. Dumbledore was still talking to her, but she couldn't listen. He was just as she remembered. Even though more than four years had passed, she hadn't forgotten anything about him. His eyes, his hair, his features... No, she was wrong. He had changed. When they had met, they were only eighteen years old. He had been just a kid, after all. Now he was a man. Hermione wasn't sure if he had seen her, but he turned to a group of people and stayed there for a while.
Albus Dumbledore looked at her and then followed her gaze. "Harry!" he called.
Hermione jumped. She would have wanted to disapparate right then. Harry turned around to see who was calling him and spotted Dumbledore. And then, his eyes fell on the person right next to the old man. His expression didn't change a bit. He excused himself with the people he had been talking to and approached slowly where Dumbledore and Hermione were.
"Good evening, Albus," he greeted him.
"Great party, Harry," Dumbledore said, smiling.
Harry turned to Hermione, who was squeezing her dress tightly. "Hello, Hermione," he said.
She felt a rush of emotions hitting her. She opened her mouth to greet him back, but the words never came.
"Gin told me she had invited Draco and you," Harry continued, in a business-like tone. "It's been a long time." He wasn't looking at her anymore. His eyes had drifted to something beyond her shoulder.
From Hermione's mouth only came a strange growl.
"I've just been with Draco," Harry continued, still not looking at her. "He told me you have a child..."
"Yes, Danny," her voice finally came out, shakily. "He's two years old."
Harry nodded, absent-mindly. "Excuse me, I need to see someone," he said. "Hermione, we'll have to talk some other time," he said in a merely polite way, moving apart from them.
The voices in the room suddenly became so loud, that Hermione felt like her head was going to explode. She needed to get out of there. She apologized to Albus Dumbledore, and walked towards a small room at the end of the hallway, which turned out to be the library.
She sat down on a black couch. Luckily, the room was empty. She took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down. She hadn't even been close to guessing how hard it would be seeing Harry again. She hadn't been prepared for his coldness. He had talked to her as if she was a stranger.
The tears were welling up in her eyes. She fought them with all her strength. It was stupid. She had moved on. She was married. She had a son...
The door of the library opened. Hermione, who had her back turned to the door, didn't need to look to see who had just entered.
"Oh, you are here," Harry's voice said.
She picked up a book that was right next to her. "Yeah, I wanted to see this," she said, lamely. "It's..." she looked at the cover. "A book of Dangerous Potions..."
Harry walked through the room until he was in front of her. Hermione avoided his eyes, and opened the book she had just picked up. He put his hand in his pocket.
"This is yours," he said.
She looked up. He had a piece of paper in his hand. She took it. It was a check from Gringotts. Three Hundred Galleons had been written on it.
"I'm afraid I don't understand..." she said, now looking at him.
"Gin told me you lent her some money. It was three hundred, wasn't it?"
Hermione blinked. This was the last thing she had expected. "I don't remember," she said.
"Was it more?" he asked, coldly.
"I don't remember," she repeated. "I'm not good with numbers."
"I can write another one if this amount is not correct," he stated, grabbing a quill form the desk.
Long ago, he had held her in his arms. He had told her he loved her.
"How much was it?" he insisted. His voice didn't have any emotion.
"You don't have to pay me," she said finally.
"I don't like debts," he retorted.
"Three hundred," she gave in.
"Well, then it's settled," he said, extending the piece of paper. Hermione didn't take it, so he left it on a small table right next to her and left the room.
Now alone, she took the check and tore it up into thousand pieces. It wasn't as torn as her heart, though.
A/N: I guess that's not the reunion you were expecting. But they'll have a chance to get together again in teh next chapter. You'll also know what happened to Harry during his absence.