Ch. 20

Hermione's POV

I did not want to leave Draco's apartment the next morning. It seemed he didn't want me to leave either, as he kept distracting me with kisses while we were standing in the middle of his living room.

"Are you sure you have to go?" He asked quietly between kisses.

I frowned and sighed. "I don't want to, but I do need a shower."

"You can just shower here," He grinned before giving me another kiss.

I laughed quietly. "You don't have any of my things here. And I don't have an extra set of clothes."

"Just pop over there and grab them and come right back," He shrugged hopefully.

I shook my head, smiling. "You can live without me for a few hours."

"You don't know that," He pouted.

I giggled and gave him a kiss. "You did it for four years."

"That was different."

Shaking my head, I smiled up at him. "I can come back over later today after I freshen up a bit."

He gave me another kiss. "Promise?"

"Promise." I giggled and gave him a long kiss while laughing. "I'll be back!"

He sighed and pulled me against him, wrapping his arms around me. "Fine."

We shared another long kiss before reluctantly letting go of each other and I disapparated back to my apartment, sighing unhappily as I landed.

"Well good morning, sunshine!"

I whirled around to see both Ginny and Harry sitting at my counter, grinning at me. I groaned and held up a hand. "At least let me shower before I get an interrogation. And no, nothing happened."

"Your bedhead says otherwise," Ginny laughed before waving me off. "Hurry up! Brunch starts in an hour!"

"Brunch?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah, at my parents," She said before raising an eyebrow. "Everyone misses you since you missed the last session after the whole business with Ron."

I frowned slightly, my worries hitting me again. Harry noticed this and asked, "Hermione, what's wrong?"

I bit my lip nervously. "They're not mad at me for ending things with Ron?"

"Are you daft, woman?" Ginny exclaimed. "Of course they're not mad at you! Everyone's on your side! Now go take your shower and wear something comfy!"

The Weasley house was chaos as always. It was almost like organized chaos though, and nearly everyone was there. Everyone except Charlie and Ron.

I was happy to just sit on the edge of everything, watching everyone. Brunch with the Weasleys was always fun; we would all dress in comfortable clothes, mostly pajamas, and laugh and drink. Ever since I introduced Ginny to mimosas, she brought them to the brunches and Molly found them quite enjoyable. Instead of sitting in the kitchen, food was brought out and set on different tables all around the room, and everyone would munch from those.

"'Mione, what are you doing off in the corner?"

I looked up to see George standing in front of me, grinning. "Come sit with the rest of us!"

He pulled me out of the chair in the corner and closer into the circle, sitting down next to me on the couch that he planted me on. He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me into a brotherly hug, grinning from ear to ear. "I realize my not-so-dear brother did you wrong but don't think that means that you can isolate yourself."

I laughed. "I'm sorry, George."

"Now!" He leaned in close and whispered loudly, "Why were you hiding off in the corner, hmm? Did you think we wouldn't want you here with the rest of us?"

I stuttered slightly as I tried to answer, suddenly feeling very put on the spot as everyone's eyes landed on me. "Well, I...uh...you see..."

"She thought you all would be mad at her for ending things with Ron," Harry said as he loaded one of the bagels up with cream cheese.

I scowled at him as the Weasley clan flew into a fit.

"Of course we're not mad!"

"What in Merlin's beard would ever give you that idea?"

"You're practically family already!"

"How could you think that we would be mad at you?!"

This, of course, was all said at once and I had a hard time deciphering what all was said. I couldn't help smiling though, any worries I had disappearing as everyone showered me with confirmations of wanting me there.

"Hermione, dear," Molly started as she floated a mimosa through the air to me. "We could never be mad at you for that. You had every right to do what you did after how Ronald treated you. I'm so sorry he did that; I thought we had raised him better."

Arthur rubbed his wife's back gently and then smiled at me. "Don't worry, dear. You'll always be welcome here. Ginny and George practically see you as their sister anyway; you have nothing to worry about as far as being accepted here."

George squeezed me to him and Ginny smiled at me before leaning over to talk to Fleur. Fleur was beaming, happily showing off another baby bump. Their first child, Victoire, was playing in the middle of the living room with Harry, who was grinning from ear to ear. I caught him casting glances to Ginny every now and then, who would simply shake her head and mouth the word, 'no'.

After about an hour of all of us sitting around and catching up, Ginny managed to pull me away from everyone else into the kitchen and asked, "Alright so spill. I've tried to hold off on asking but I need to know."

I laughed. "About last night?"

She nodded eagerly. "You clearly spent the night there."

"Yes, he cooked dinner for us and then we had wine and watched movies," I said with a smile. "And I fell asleep on him at one point. That's it."

She raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"

I nodded. "Nothing happened; just kisses and maybe a couple of snogging sessions."

She squealed excitedly, bouncing up as down as I tried to shush her. "I'm sorry, 'Mione, that's just so exciting!"

"What's so exciting?"

We both turned to see George and Bill in the doorway, watching us.

"Um," I said, giving Ginny a panicked look.

"Hermione might possibly be getting a promotion," Ginny said quickly.

I mouthed a quick 'thank you' to her and turned back to the two Weasley brothers with a smile. "It's not official yet but they said they're considering it."

"Well that certainly is exciting," Bill said. "However, I doubt it would make Ginny squeal like that."

"I'm very excited for Hermione!" Ginny said defensively.

"Mhmm." George eyed her, unconvinced.

Ginny rolled her eyes and took my hand, leading us out of the kitchen and back into the living room with everyone else. She promptly sat down next to Harry and gave him a quick kiss, before turning her attention to Victoire.

I laughed at her. She and Harry had been talking lately about having kids; the only thing stopping them was Ginny's quidditch career and the fact that she didn't want to be pregnant for my wedding. Well, now she didn't have to worry about that at least.

"It's so exciting to have everyone together again," Molly beamed as she looked around at all of us.

Everyone nodded in agreement and continued chatting with each other. I felt my phone buzz and pulled it out of my sweater pocket to see that Draco had texted me.

I smiled and quickly typed out a reply.

After sending off the text, I shoved my phone back in my pocket and looked around, catching Ginny's eye. She raised an eyebrow at me and I shook my head, simply grinning as I finished my drink. My phone buzzed again and I read the text.

I rolled my eyes at the text and started replying.

I turned the phone over after sending the text and looked back up. Ginny was whispering something to Harry, who grinned at me. Great, they knew exactly who I was talking to.

My phone buzzed again and I turned it over.

"Now why would Draco Malfoy be texting you?"

I jumped and turned to see George standing behind me, raising an eyebrow at me. Thankfully he had said it quietly enough for only me to hear.

"He's just a client of mine," I said quickly. "I helped him with a case and I was just checking up on the situation."

George continued to look at me in disbelief. I stared right back, unwavering in my expression. He sighed and his shoulders dropped as he shook his head at me.

"As long as you're happy," He said quietly before giving me a small smile.

I  smiled  in  return  and  he  leaned  down  to  give  me  a  hug  from  behind  the  couch.  Ginny  grinned  at  both  of  us  and  I  rolled  my  eyes  at  her  before  returning  my  attention  back  to  the  rest  of  the  Weasley  family.