Ch. 38

Hermione's POV

Two weeks went by in a flash, and Draco had pressed charges against Ron for what had happened. Ron was already removed from his position as Auror, and was currently living at the joke shop with George.

Draco had officially moved in with me and I could not have been happier. I was surprised though that we didn't move into his new apartment, though he kept reminding me how much he loved this one better. Harry, Ginny, Blaise, and Pansy all helped with the move, and we celebrated afterwards with pizza.

"So, when are you having the trial at the Wizengamot?" Blaise asked as he grabbed a second slice.

Draco sighed next to me and ran a hand through his hair. "It's going to be on Tuesday at nine in the morning."

"I need to make sure Seamus knows the time since he was the one who saw it," I said, more to myself than any of the others.

"We'll be there too," Ginny nodded, gesturing between Harry and herself. "Extra witnesses. And since we were also both there for Ron's confession..."

"That's going to be important, yes," Draco nodded.

"I just hope it'll be an easy trial," I sighed.

"Don't worry, 'Mione," Ginny smiled. "There were enough witnesses for what happened for them to convict Ron."

"Remind me again why they can't just use Veritaserum on him to get him to tell the truth?" Pansy asked.

"It's because Veritaserum isn't one hundred percent fool-proof," I explained, looking around at everyone. "It only makes the drinker tell what they believe to be the truth, and there are ways for them to combat the effects. Especially if they know they are being interrogated; that's partly why I was able to get Ron to admit that he put the potion in Draco's drink. He didn't know that I had put Veritaserum into his tea so he didn't have time to prepare anything else."

"That's ridiculous," Ginny muttered, shaking her head.

"Yeah, but we at least got something out of him," Harry sighed. "Better than him not admitting it at all."

"It was really good thinking on your part though, Hermione," Blaise said, raising his glass slightly to gesture towards me. "And in the time that you did, too. You managed to get Draco back in a few hours."

Draco took my hand and squeezed it, giving me a smile as he ran his thumb across the top of the ring. I had started casting a Disillusionment spell on it at Ginny's suggestion so that no one would accidentally see it, and this allowed me to continue wearing it. Ginny was still the only person who knew about the engagement, and I wanted to keep it that way at least for a few more months.

"It's good that you two finally moved in together too," Pansy said with a grin, looking at the two of us. "I was telling Blaise that it was only a matter of time before that happened."

We chuckled at that and Draco answered, "I was already trying to move in with her, slowly but surely. It wouldn't have taken very long to do it, either."

"Not really, no," Ginny agreed. "I mean, you basically just moved clothes and books."

"I'm still surprised that we managed to find room in that damn study for the books," Blaise muttered.

"I don't have many!" Draco laughed.

"I wasn't talking about your books, mate," Blaise grinned.

I rolled my eyes but couldn't help smiling as I subconsciously ran my finger over the engagement ring. A small part of me wondered if this was a dream or not; Draco and I were not only engaged, but we were also living together. And for once, I wasn't worried about how fast it had happened. It was almost as if we had picked up right where we left off in our final year.

Of course, back then I didn't want to admit to the feelings I had for him. I was stupidly trying to convince myself that Ron was the right person for me, and pushing away the constantly growing feelings I had for Draco. It was so hard for me to end the friendship we had, and I had regretted it every day since. But of course, life happened, and Draco and I had drifted apart. I stopped thinking about it after about a year and a half, but the feelings were always there. And while I was unhappy with how things were a few months ago, I wouldn't change a thing if it meant I wouldn't be with Draco.

"What are you thinking about so deeply over there?"

I shook my head slightly and looked around, seeing everyone watching me with an amused expression. I laughed a bit and said, "Sorry, got lost in my thoughts for a moment!"

"We could tell," Ginny smiled.

Draco leaned over to give me a kiss on the cheek and grabbed my empty wine glass. "More wine, love?"

"Yes please!" I said, smiling at him.

He smiled in return and went to the kitchen while I turned back to the others. Ginny looked around at all of us then and said, "So, my next game is coming up! It's going to be against the Bulgarian National Quidditch team!"

"Oh, that's exciting!" Pansy exclaimed, looking at Blaise. "I'm sure you want to go, Blaise?"

"Are you kidding?" He looked so excited, I thought he was going to fall off the couch. "Of course I want to go! Not only do I get to see the Harpies, but I get to see them against the Bulgarians?!"

Pansy laughed at him and patted his knee, looking at Ginny. "You can count us in."

"I'd love to go!" I smiled, trying to hide the fact that I wasn't sure yet if I would actually be going or not. It was hard taking off time for Ginny's games, and I always felt awful about it but I had a responsibility for my cases. "I'll have to see if I'm able to take off work for this."

"I really hope you can," Ginny said, bouncing up and down slightly in her seat. "I'd love to have all of you there!"

"Sounds like we're taking a group vacation," Draco announced as he returned to his spot next to me on the couch.

"Group vacation?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

Draco nodded and gestured around at all of us. "We're all clearly going to go watch Ginny play against Bulgaria, why don't we just take a trip together?"

"That sounds like fun," Ginny said, looking at Harry.

"And if I remember correctly, Bulgaria shares a border with Greece, so we can always go there too," Draco added, smiling at me.

I smiled in return and then frowned slightly. "How long are we going to be gone?"

"Well, my game is in the middle of the week," Ginny started, trailing off as her mood dropped.

I instantly felt awful, straightening up and smiling at her. "I've missed too many of your games already. I'll find someone to keep an eye on my cases."

Ginny's mood lifted instantly as she asked, "Really? You're going to go?"

"Of course!" I laughed. "I've been putting work first too often!"

Draco took my hand and ran his thumb across the top of my ring, smiling at me. I leaned against him and kissed his shoulder before turning my attention back to the others. Ginny was already making plans for the trip, telling us how we should leave the Saturday before so that we have time to get a little bit of sight-seeing in before she has a last minute practice and then the game. I smiled as I listened, letting my thoughts wander again.