Chapter 22

Hermione was now standing, swaying slightly, while holding her wand firmly with one hand and a glass with her other one.

"Now, if you don't want a broken skull to go with that face, I'd advise you to leave me alone." she told the guy threateningly just as he managed to scramble to his feet.

The guy's friends just noticed what was happening and were coming towards their pal and Hermione. At this point, Draco decided it was best to intervene. Who knows what hell would break loose if he were to leave Hermione to her own devices.

'And everyone thinks I'm dangerous. They clearly haven't seen Granger drunk.'

He got up, finished his remaining firewiskey and went to the bar. He could see Hermione was barely able to stand straight but she was shooting ferocious looks at the bleeding guy and his friends, now closing in on her.

Just as they were about to reach her, Draco placed himself in front of Hermione, still holding onto his empty glass.

"I think the lady has made herself quite clear on the matter." Draco drawled, his trademark Malfoy smirk in place.

Draco felt a slight shiver down his spine. He just realized that in that moment he felt more like himself than he had in months. A small voice in his mind told him he should thank Hermione for it, but he tried hard to ignore it. Instead, he focused on the group of people in front of him.

He emphasized his words by placing the empty glass he was holding on the bar, with a rather loud thump. Other people in the bar also started to notice them. Some even recognized Draco and he saw them pointing their fingers at him, whispering among themselves.

The group of men seemed unwilling to leave at first, but Draco shot them a menacing, icy cold look, hoping to make his point without having to raise his wand. That, and people's whispers regarding Draco's status as a Death Eater seemed to do the trick. The group quickly made up their minds to leave, collecting their pal and leaving the bar in a hurry.

"Smart choice" Draco said in a low voice, watching them scurrying away through the door.

With a sigh, Draco turned to Hermione. He took the glass from her hand and placed in on the bar, then reached for her arm.

"Let's go, Granger." he said gruffly.

"Oh, buzz off, Malfoy." she snapped at him, jerking her arm away from him. "Who do you think you are to come here and ruin my fun night out?"

Hermione was fuming. She was having a relaxing time, away from everything and HE had to show up and ruin everything. With a loud, shacky huff, she scuttled onto the bar chair, trying to reach the drink Draco had taken from her.

But Draco was faster. He grabbed the glass and held it out of her reach.

"Fun night out? Is that what you call… whatever this is?" he asked incredulously, eyes wide, gesturing towards the door. "Is seeking a bar brawl your idea of fun nowadays?" he sneered at her.

"What do you know of fun, Malfoy? Isn't your idea of fun tormenting people who are weaker than you?" she sneered back at him, eyes trying to focus on his face.

"For one thing, I know MY idea of fun doesn't involve getting drunk and cursing people who flirt with me."

At that Hermione snorted, trying again to reach the glass but Draco was careful to move it still further away from her. She let out a huff of annoyance, stopping for a second to catch her breath and stare at the man in front of her.

"I didn't just curse him. If you really want to know, I might have also punched him. It's all a bit fuzzy, so I can't recall for sure." she said, waving a hand, almost touching Draco's arm.

Draco noticed her drunken speech was getting more noticeable.

'That's one too many drinks for the know-it-all' he thought, a small smile almost forming on his face.

He stared at Hermione intently. For some unknown reason, seeing her like this amused him, but in a different way than it had used to.

While they were at school, he found it amusing to make fun of her hair, teeth, personality, choice in friends and of her parentage. He had real fun teasing her and felt good watching her reactions. It always gave him satisfaction to see the look in her eyes whenever he would say something mean to her, but now, remembering all that, all the pain he had seen in her eyes, made him feel ashamed. The feeling washed over him like a cold wave, giving him goosebumps.

Being so absorbed in his own thoughts, made Draco lose track of Hermione's movements. Seeing him distracted, Hermione jumped and took the glass he was holding. That snapped him back to reality, he watched her drink half the glass at once, before she placed it on the bar between them.

"Much better." she said with a satisfied grin.

"Fine! Get dead drunk for all I care!" Draco said, shaking his head.

"Don't need your permission to do that, Malfoy." she told him with a scowl.

'That's true enough. She doesn't need permission to do anything, this witch', he thought, gazing at her openly.

He felt intrigued by her actions, as well as her person. In that instant he realized he didn't know anything about her, or at least he didn't know enough to make out her character.

What he'd seen in school might not have been all there was to this Hermione Granger, or perhaps the person she'd become was more complex than her past self.