A/N: Hello again. Here's the new chapter. It doesn't have H/Hr interaction, but it's very important to the plot, so I hope you'll be able to forget about that for a second.
This chapter has some strong language in it. I'm not very fond of that, but it's necessary, considering what happens.
Thanks to my beta reader for her diligent work and to all of you who have taken the time to read and review.
Chapter 18 - Falling to Pieces
Ginny was awake when Harry arrived that night. Where had he been this time? Was it New York? She wasn't sure. He had been away for a week and hadn't called her or owled to her -not even once. She was prepared to confront him for his uncaring attitude, but every intention she had of playing the concerned and hurt wife faded away when she saw his face. He looked strange... tired... sad.
"Welcome back, dear," she said, putting the book she had been reading aside. She was lying on their bed, in her blue nightgown.
Harry just leaned against the door frame, staring at her in silence. His expression was empty. Ginny's fake smile faded.
"What?" she asked briskly.
"Have you ever thought about how much time we spend apart?" he asked in response.
Ginny looked at him, not hiding her surprise. What was this about? A frightening feeling came to her, and she tried her best to suppress it. "This time you were away more than you had planned to-"
"I'm not talking about that," he cut her off.
"Then what are you talking about?" she asked with a high-pitched voice.
"We've reached a point where we are only together if we have a social commitement."
Ginny blinked. Harry's expression was calm, but something in his eyes was scaring her. She got out of the bed and walked towards him. Suddenly, the room felt really cold and she realized she was shaking.
"Who is it?" she asked, with a cynical smile.
"Who is who?" Harry asked, looking straight at her.
"The other woman... How did we say it in Paris? 'Cherchez la femme'... You know, the one you are cheating on me with."
If Harry was surprised by this, he didn't show it. In fact, he didn't even stirr. "This is about us."
"It must be some meaningless affair if you don't even make the effort to deny it," Ginny said, her hands on her hips. She was trying to be tough, but she was terrified of the way the conversation was heading.
Harry eyed her for a long minute before speaking again. "Why did you lie to me about the pregnancy?"
She was so shocked with his question that she was sure someone had rubbed ice cubes against her spine. However, she somehow managed to keep a straight face.
"I assure you, I don't understand what you're saying, Harry." Yes, her face was straight, but her voice was shaking so much that she was amazed she had been able to talk at all.
"You can't have children," Harry stated, his voice a little harsh.
"That's a really interesting theory. Is it something your little friend came up with? Tell her that, if she wants, I can show her Ludo Bagman's curriculum-"
"Ludo Bagman is a fraud, and you know it!" Harry interrupted her. Even when it was an exclamation, his voice didn't raise at all. "I talked to Snape, Ginny."
"I WAS pregant," she hissed. "You can tell her that."
Harry glared at her and left the room, probably to sleep in one of the guest's.
That night, she had a terrible nightmare. She was back in La Sante. Her father was tied to a chair, covered in blood.
"You haven't kept your promise, Virginia," he said. "The traitor's family hasn't paid yet."
"I'm working on it, dad!" she tried to explain.
"You're not trying hard enough. You're a shame to this family!"
"NOOOOO!" she screamed, sobbing.
"Gin... Gin!" a hand rested on her shoulder and she woke up with a start. Harry was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at her with concern.
"A nightmare?" he asked softly.
She nodded. "I was back in there... My dad... He was tied to a chair..." her voice went out and she started crying again.
"It's alright," Harry said. "You're safe now."
"No, I'm not! I'll never be!" she exclaimed.
She noticed his expression changed. He looked guilty and hurt. She still had that wild card. Harry felt responsible for what had happened to her. Although the fear from the nightmare had vanished, she kept crying just to make sure he wouldn't leave.
Harry shut his eyes, and after a second of hesitation, he hugged her and let her cry on his shoulder.
Ginny smiled. Harry was still hers, after all.
* * *
Hermione was waiting for Ginny in one of those fancy restaurants she liked. She felt so uncomfortable there... She was sitting at one of the tables alone, and she could almost feel the other people gaze down on her. She took her suitcase and checked the drawings she had made to show Ginny.
After she had arrived back from Taxco, she had started working on them. For a week, she had successfully avoided going to the office. She knew she wasn't going to be able to look her friend straight in the face after what she had done to her. She hadn't known anything about Harry, and hopefully for both of them, it would keep being like that.
Now she had summoned all the courage she had to come to this lunch. After all, it was unavoidable to have a meeting with her boss. Why was she taking so long? Hermione knew that ten more minutes and she would definitely chicken out...
Ginny made her entrance in the restaurant dressed with a beautiful black skirt and a yellow blouse. She spotted Hermione and walked to the table. It was only when she had reached it that Hermione noticed she wasn't alone.
A tall man was behind her. He had blond, wavy hair and sparkling blue eyes. Hermione was sure she had seen him somewhere...
"Hermione, please, let me introduce you to Mr. Gilderoy Lockhart," Ginny said, and Lockhart shook Hermione's hand. "I'm sure you know who he is," Ginny added.
Hermione nodded, surprised. Gilderoy Lockhart was a reknowned fashion designer among the Wizarding World. She had read about him in several magazines. She looked at Ginny, expecting an explanation of why he was there, but the red head didn't catch the hint... or she chose not too. She spent half an hour talking about meaningless stuff, mostly about people that Hermione didn't know, but Lockhart was pretty familiar with.
This was strange. Why had Ginny invited that man to their lunch? Suddenly, Ginny checked her watch.
"Oh, my!" she said, standing up, "I have an appointment. Hermione, Gilderoy, you two stay here and talk... I'm sure you have a lot to discuss..."
"But Gin, I haven't showed you the designs yet," Hermione protested, not sure she liked the idea staying with Lockhart alone.
"Show them to Gilderoy. Bye!" and she left before Hermione could say anything else.
Show them to Lockhart...?
"Soooo," Gilderoy said, turning to talk to her for the first time since they had met. "Mrs. Potter told me you give her a hand with the designs."
"I make the original designs," Hermione said, blushing. "Then she corrects them."
Lockhart gave her a small smile. "I know what you mean," he said. "I used to work with McPhee. I don't know if you've heard of her..."
"Of course," Hermione said. She might be not popular and famous like him, but she at least knew a lot about the fashion world, since it was her job.
"Well, she did the same thing. The woman couldn't make the difference between a sleeve and a collar. But, in the end, she got all the credit for my work. So, before signing the contract with Mrs. Potter, I demanded that all the designs should say 'Gilderoy Lockhart for Virginia Weasley'..."
Hermione almost spit her water in his face. "You came here to work with Ginny?" she choked.
Lockhart raised his eyebrows. "Don't tell me you didn't know she called me about a week ago..."
Hermione shook her head.
"Are you alright? You're really pale," he said. "I didn't mean to scare you..."
"And where do I come in?" she asked. All this time she had been the only designer for the firm... How could she compete against Gilderoy Lockhart?
"Well, you'll continue in your position, of course."
"And what position is that?" she asked, a little rudely. "I've always worked for her, since she started this business."
"And now you'll work for me," Lockhart said, simply.
"My collections have always been a success," she insisted.
"I assure you, dear, that mine will be too. The Boss said she didn't want someone who smelled of homemade cooking to be the face of her desings. She wanted someone with an image, like me."
Hermione's jaw dropped. She felt so angry and miserable... How could Ginny be so cruel to have this complete stranger telling her the news? How could she have said something like that about her? Or, most importantly, why? For a second, the idea that she could have found out about Harry and her crossed her mind, but it was impossible...
"I shouldn't have told you this," Lockhart said, apologizing.
"It's not your fault."
"You know, that woman is a bitch, I'm telling you," he said in a whisper.
* * *
After Hermione left the restaurant, she decided to walk towards Ginny's office. She couldn't go home without settling this. And she didn't want to apparate. She needed some time to clear her head.
But halfway there, she wasn't sure if she was going to talk to Ginny about this at all. Who was Hermione Granger (it had been a long time since she had stopped thinking about herself with her husband's last name) to accuse Ginny Weasley-Potter of treason?
She arrived to the building where 'Virgina Weasley''s offices were located. She stopped, hesitating about what she was going to do...
That minute of doubt gave her a chance to see something else, though, and soon, the whole Ginny thing was forgotten. She saw Draco leaving the building, his arm wrapped around Chloe's waist. Hermione's surprise was even bigger when the gorgeous model leaned and whispered something in his ear, and they started snogging right there.
Hermione stared at them, blinking. She started to laugh bitterly. This was so ridiculous, she was sure someone was playing a prank on her. She wasn't amazed that she wasn't jealous. After all, she didn't love him. In fact, their marriage was inexistent, even when they lived under the same roof.
And all this time, she had been feeling guilty for what happened with Harry! She didn't need to be a Seer to know that Draco and Chloe's... thing (whatever it was) had been going for at least a month. That would explain all of his strange attitudes.
Shaking her head at the irony of the situation, she made her way back to her house.
* * *
When Draco arrived home that night, he was feeling cheerful. His little dates with Chloe lightened his mood and he felt even more affectionate to his wife. That was why he considered that having an affair with the pretty blonde was good for his marriage.
He found Hermione sitting on the dining table, with her head in her hands. However, there wasn't any food on the table.
"If we're going out for dinner, it's fine with me," he said a little annoyed. He was very hungry, and had expected that his wife would have prepared a nice meal. "But let's go now."
Hermione look up and eyed him. She took a deep breath. "I've been thinking a lot... I think we should get a divorce."
Draco's chin almost touched his chest with the impression. Divorce? The glass of whisky he had been holding crashed on the floor.
"I don't blame you," Hermione added, sighing and repairing the glass with a swift of her wand.
"What the bloddy hell is this?!" he yelled when he finally was able to speak. "What is this shit about divorce and blame?" Hermione remained silent. Draco clenched his fists. "I came home after a long day of work and you come up with this soap opera drama? What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"Things have changed a lot since we moved to this house," she stated, calmly.
"Oh, surely you preferred that rat hole where we lived before..." he said through gritted teeth.
Hermione sighed again. She didn't want this to turn in their usual argument about money. Draco stared at her, trying to read her mind, something that he had never been able to do. He realized she was thinner and felt a rush of pity. He searched in the back of his mind for a good retort. He knew this was his fault. It was him who was the one having an affair.
"You have someone else, don't you!?" he yelled, that being the only thing he could come up with. He knew it was stupid, but there was nothing rational in their conversation, after all.
"I did."
He stared at her blankly. He was sure he was about to have a heart attack. He had to sit down, or else, he was likely to fall on the floor. He opened his mouth slowly and it took him quite an amount of time to speak.
"You... did?" he repeated, waiting for her smile and 'I'm only kidding!' to come out of her mouth.
"It's over now," Hermione said, sitting across from him.
Draco summoned another glass of whisky and drank it with one sip. "I don't believe you!" he yelled. It was impossible. She was making that up. Hermione Granger, his pure wife, would never have an affair with another guy. It was just an excuse to finish the marriage for some unknown reason.
Hermione only shrugged and Draco felt a rush of anger boiling inside of him. He threw the glass against the wall and it shattered to pieces. He stood up and approached to Hermione until their faces were inches apart.
"You are a whore!" he shouted. "You bloody bitch!"
If he had been someone else, he would have definitely hit her. But he wasn't like that. He could be a lot of things, but he would never harm his wife like that. To stop himself from doing anything he could later regret, he stormed out of the house.
He came back two hours later and found Hermione sitting in the same spot she had been. He was strangely calm now, and she soon realized it was because he had drank a lot.
"About the other guy... Are you sure it's over?" he asked her, slowly.
She nodded.
"Then why did you mention the... divorce?"
"You have someone else too, Draco."
"What are you saying!?"
Hermione let out a sad laugh. "Come on, let's not make this even harder. I know you are seeing another woman." She realized that Draco was about to deny it again and she cut him off. "I saw you with Chloe. Today."
Draco ran a hand through his hair. "She means nothing to me," he said, after a while.
"I'm not acussing you. I have no right to."
"You and Danny are the only thing I have," he said, sitting down. He buried his face in his hands, and started sobbing.
Hermione felt sorry for him. He wasn't a bad guy. He was just…misguided. He thought that money was the solution to everything. She remembered those times, before Harry came back into her life, when she actually thought that there would be hope for her marriage, that someday she would be able to be happy with him.
Who said that life didn't have a sense of humor, she thought bitterly.
* * *
Things started to go worse for her after that. She somehow managed to go to the office as if nothing had ever happened. It was a good thing that she worked from her home, and had to go to the office only once a week.
Draco was making efforts to make her forgive him, and had spent a huge amount of money in presents for her and Daniel. Hermione felt like killing him for adding even more bills to the tower she had on her desk. He still lived at home, but Hermione now slept in the guest's room.
When she arrived that Friday to the office for a reunion with Gilderoy, she saw that another name had been added above hers. Ernie McMillan. She didn't have enough time to wonder who it was, because he appeared in that very instant.
"You must be Hermione," he said. "I'm Ernie. Mr. Lockhart's personal assistant. I'm glad you're here, since I'm having a hard time working on the idea that Mr. Lockhart just had."
Hermione followed him to a room, full of some very familiar designs hanging up in the wall.
"This is what he wants. He worked on them the whole week. Marvelous, don't you think?" Ernie said.
Hermione shook her head in disbilief. Those where her designs! The very same she had worked so hard on after arriving from Taxco. Well. What did it matter if some other ideas of hers were stolen? She was getting used to it already, and didn't feel like fighting against it anymore.
* * *
Two weeks later, Draco arrived home more drunk than usual.
"What happened?" she asked immediately, knowing that something had to be wrong.
"That piece of shit..." Draco babbled. "She fired me!"
"What?" Hermione asked. "Are you sure? Couldn't it have been a warning?"
"A warning my arse. In fact, WE are fired, Chiquita. Both you and me."