Ch. 32

Draco's POV

I raised an eyebrow at the red head, saying, "About what?"

He shrugged. "Just a simple talk. Man to man."

I felt Hermione stiffen next to me slightly and I squeezed her hip reassuringly. "Alright. Real quick though."

He nodded and led me away towards the bar. "Let me buy you a drink."

I gave him a suspicious look. "Alright, what is this about?"

"I already told Hermione that I'm moving on," He answered, resting his arms on the bar top. "I just want to make sure she's going to be treated right."

"Why wouldn't I treat her right?" I asked angrily. "I love her, and I would never do anything to hurt her."

He looked over at me and just stared. "I would hope not."

"What is the real reason you brought me over here, Weasley?" I asked, looking at the bartender and gesturing towards my empty glass. "You know I've been treating her right. And frankly, you have no right to try and intimidate me after what all you've done."

"I know, but given your history versus our history, I think I can at least have a say," He answered simply. "I still love her, but she deserves the best and I couldn't give it to her. So I just want to make sure you don't hurt her as well."

"Look, Weasley," I turned to face him, scowling at him. "I will never hurt her. I love her too much, and I'm pretty sure I love her more than you ever have. I don't know what kind of intimidation you are attempting to do right now, but it's not working. And I've already gotten it from your family as well as her family. You are the intimidating person that has talked to me about Hermione's welfare."

He simply shrugged and pulled the drink that the bartender had set down towards him. "She's still my best friend after all of this; I just want to make sure she's alright."

The bartender set my drink down in front of me shortly after as I rolled my eyes and took a quick sip. "I wouldn't say best. Not after the shit you've pulled. She may have forgiven you, but that doesn't mean that you're best friends still."

"Maybe not, but we'll get there again. Things are already improving." He turned slightly and gestured back towards her. "I mean, look at her. Look at how happy she is right now."

I raised an eyebrow at him but looked back towards Hermione. She did look very happy, a constant smile on her face as she talked to Ginny. She looked at ease, as if she didn't have a care in the world at that moment. And she shouldn't have had a care in the world; she deserved a quiet, happy life after everything she had been through, and I wanted to be the one to give it to her.

"I just want to make sure she is always this happy for the rest of her life," Ron said quietly. "She deserves it."

"Yes she does," I agreed, looking back at him and scowling. "What's brought this sudden change of perception on?"

He shrugged. "Life's short. I realized that I was not being productive with my actions and I wanted to change that for her sake."

I looked at him for a few moments before looking away. Who was I to judge someone for wanting a second chance? After all, I couldn't even have hoped for a second chance and I still got one.

"I can respect that," I said quietly. "However..."

I turned to face him, straightening up and putting my hands in my pockets as I glared at him. "If you do anything to make her uncomfortable or unhappy, or you try anything to jeopardize our relationship, you will be dealing with me personally. I have let her handle everything up until this point out of respect for her and her wishes, but now I'm going to make sure that she stays happy. And I will not let anyone, especially you, ruin that for her."

He looked at me for a few moments before nodding. "I understand."

Then he lifted his glass to me and said, "Cheers, mate."

I frowned slightly but clinked my glass against his and answered, "I wouldn't say we're mates."

He shrugged as I turned away, taking a long drink from my glass as Ginny rushed towards me. She quickly grabbed the drink from my hands while yelling past me, "

Hermione's POV

The scene unfolded in front of my eyes quicker than my mind could register what was happening. It wasn't until after Seamus came up to us and asked if we had seen Ron slip something into Draco's drink that everything fell apart.

Ginny ran up to Draco and took the drink from him, but it was too late. As Ginny proceeded to scream at Ron, I rushed to Draco, putting a hand on his arm and the other on his cheek and asking, "Draco, are you okay? Do you feel sick?"

He blinked at me for a few moments and then his expression changed completely to an icy glare and he shoved my hands off him. "Get your bloody hands off me, Granger!"

My heart dropped into my stomach as I took a step back in shock. "Draco...what-"

"Don't touch me!" He exclaimed angrily. "I can't believe I let you talk me into these ridiculous costumes!"

"What is going on with you?" I looked him up and down, trying to find something odd, but he looked completely normal. "I thought you wanted to do this with me!"

"You thought I would want to go to a Halloween party with you?" He laughed, but there was nothing happy about it.

My chest tightened as my throat closed up and my eyes started to water. Even though I knew something had caused him to suddenly turn, I wasn't able to mentally prepare for just how much his words would hurt.

"Draco, you're not thinking straight," I managed to say, choking slightly on the words as I held back tears. "This isn't really you. I love you, please stop this!"

"Do you really think I loved you? How could I possibly love someone like you?!" He leaned in with a sneer. "Do you really think I would want to be with a mudblood?"

That hurt. I didn't even care what had happened at that point, I didn't want to be there any longer. Without another word, I apparated away back to my apartment and fell onto the bed, sobbing my heart out.

Ginny's POV

Hermione disapparated and Draco turned back around to look at all of us, and almost blank expression on his face. I pointed at Harry and said, "Take him into one of the drawing rooms, lock him in there, and make sure he can't apparate out."

Harry nodded and immediately grabbed Draco, who surprisingly didn't put up a fight as Harry led him away, and I turned back to Ron, ripping off my blonde wig and glasses in anger.

"Answer me, Ronald!" I yelled, pointing my wand at his throat. "What did you put in his drink?"

He glared at me. "I didn't put anything in his drink!"

"Why else would he suddenly turn on Hermione like that?" I growled. "You obviously did something!"

He gaped, stuttering his words. "It's Malfoy, for Merlin's sake! We all know how he feels about muggleborns and it's not like this is the first time he's ever insulted Hermione! Why do you seriously think I had something to do with him suddenly going bonkers?"