Hermione's Reason

Hermione pushed open the door to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The soft chime of bells came from above. She slowly stepped forward. Draco moved behind her, keeping a gentle hand on her arm. She kept her eyes trained on the floor. It was too hard for her to look around. The store and everything in it reminded her of Ron, and of the fact that she was the reason why he was dead.

"Hermione? You actually came in?" George peeked his head out from behind the door of the storeroom.

Her annoyance grew at his shock. If he was so sure she wouldn't have entered the shop then why did he send that letter? "What do you want?" She made her annoyance clear. She felt Draco's thumb rub patterns into the back of her arm. She had forgotten that his hand was on her.

George disappeared into the storeroom before coming back out with a box. "Draco." George gave a court nod to the silent Draco. "I have a box of pranks for Rose." He told Hermione. "She told me that she wanted to use them on a certain Slytherin. I feel sorry for the poor bloke, whoever he is." He shook his head in sympathy though his eyes betrayed him. "You can have some to give to Scorpius." He absentmindedly waved in Draco's direction.

"Uh, thanks." Somehow, Draco had managed to sound unsure and unimpressed at the same time.

Hermione had to stifle the giggle that bubbled up in her throat. She felt her annoyance disappear. "Is that everything?"

George tapped a finger to his chin and looked as if he was taking Hermione's question seriously. The goofball broke into a grin. "Yeah." He awkwardly hugged her, trying to avoid the corners of the box and the snapping teeth. "It was nice seeing you in here again." He pulled away and turned to give Draco a hug, surprising both him and Hermione. "You too."

"What was that about?" Hermione asked Draco once they left the shop.

He lifted a black-clad shoulder. "I have no idea."

Hermione stopped walking, causing Draco to stop too. She offered him a small smile. "Thank you for accompanying me today."

It could have been her imagination but she swore she saw a small blush creep onto his pale cheeks. "It was nothing." He mumbled, looking away from her.

His reaction reminded her of the last time they were together, where he had kissed her at the ministry's annual Christmas party. She liked him, she really did but she could never be with him. She never forgave herself for being the reason why Ron had died, and she could never live with herself if someone else she cared for became hurt, or worse, because of her.

She shifted the box awkwardly in her arms. Draco saw her struggling and took it from her. This made things even more awkward, or at least for Hermione, they did. "Draco..." her voice broke off but she shook it off. She needed to explain things to him. "About that night," She tried again.

Draco shook his head, interrupting her. "Forget it. I would rather have you as a friend than to not have you in my life at all."

Ugh, why did he have to turn out to be such a gentleman, a really nice and handsome gentleman. "I need to say this. I owe you that much." She took in a deep breath to settle her pounding heart before continuing on. "First, I should tell you that I have come to the conclusion that I do like you." His grey eyes widened and sparkled with hope. Oh, poor Draco, she was going to crush him. "But, I cannot be with you." She barreled on with her explanation before he could open his mouth to argue. "Ron died because of me, because I was the head of the ministry. I may no longer be the head anymore but I still cannot allow myself to be with you in fear of causing you pain as I did Ron." She felt the silent tears roll out of her eyes. This was something that she had never admitted out loud let alone to anyone else.

Draco sat the box of pranks down and wrapped her in his arms. "It wasn't your fault, you're not to blame. You shouldn't blame yourself for something that was out of your control." His quiet words were a comfort to her even though they sent an ache to her heart.

"I know." She pulled away and wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. "I'm working on coming to terms with that. I just wanted to let you know and to tell you not to wait on me."

Draco took her hands into his and gave them a light squeeze. "You are worth the wait." Before Hermione had the chance to argue with him, he changed the subject in a way that brought a smile to her face. "So, I take half and you take half or just give the whole box to Scorpius to give to Rose." He bent down and rummaged through the gadgets. "Why is there only one ear?"

.... . ....

Narcissa carefully wiped her eyes with her handkerchief while the idiot beside her blubbered openingly. "I had no clue that she thought that! Poor Hermione! Poor Draco! How can we get them through this after knowing all of that?"

Narcissa handed her handkerchief to the bloke that would one day be apart of her rapidly growing family. "We must and we will. Now that we know the reason behind Hermione's rebuffs to my son's proclamations, we now can figure out a way for her to come to terms and accept the fact that she has nothing to be blamed for, for her husband's death."

George handed her, her now soaping handkerchief. "Keep it." She waved her hand in disgust.

"How could your son turn out to be such a good bloke from the git that he used to be with you acting so high and mighty?"

"He takes after his aunt Andromeda and if I was so high and mighty than why would I be crouched over an ear with you, listening to a private conversation in a dusty storeroom." She huffed as she dropped the said ear onto the counter at the front of the store.

She had asked the red buffoon to team up with her that morning in the hopes that one of his gadgets would allow them to listen in on the obvious lovebirds conversation. She hadn't expected the conversation that they had overheard or that the ear would have been discovered so quickly.

Walking over to the chair behind the counter, she took out her wand and summoned a piece of parchment and a quill so that she could inform Mrs. Potter of their discovery. She had promised to let the children know of the outcome of what they had heard but decided against it after hearing the actual conversation. She was afraid that Scorpius and Rose would back out of their plans, or worse, inform their parents, if they knew the real reason behind Hermione's rejection. She made sure to let Mrs. Potter know of her concerns and that it would be best to carry out the plans without informing the children.

"What's our next step?" The red buffoon had finally stopped blubbering. Narcissa waved her hand for him to be quiet but he did raise a good point. The next thing they had planned was the scavenger hunt, but that was still weeks away. They needed something in between their wait. Something that wouldn't be obvious but still impactful.

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