8. The World's Not Falling Apart

Disclaimer: As usual, I'm making most of this up, and the world belongs to JKR.

Note: Chapter title belongs to the wonderufl Dar Williams. And, because I didn't post anything last week, I intend to post another chapter later this week. So you'll know I love you:)

ooo

Chapter 8 – The World's Not Falling Apart

The next morning, Hermione woke up angry. The previous night it was as if her brain had been turned off. She didn't think about anything – not Malfoy, not her parents, and certainly not what he said. But sleep had done her well, and her mind was already spinning when her eyes flew open. How dare he! He had brought up her parents, without her permission, and then attempted to say he was sorry! SORRY! As if he could even know what that felt like!

She threw off the covers and sat up in bed. She absolutely refused to spend another minute in the house with him. She showered and dressed quickly, anxious to quit the house as soon as possible. She didn't even want to eat breakfast there. Hermione packed a small bag – she would not return that day, and possibly never. Even though she'd decided to live there, in Malfoy's house, she could always change her mind. After all, the logical choice was to live in London, and Harry would be fine without her.

Hermione smelled breakfast, and her stomach growled. She made her way noisily down the stairs. Harry and Draco were sitting at the table, discussing the morning's training session. Neither of them looked up when she entered the room. When she saw him, she scowled, and a small something inside her snapped.

"How dare you!" she practically screamed at Malfoy. "You have no right. Don't you ever speak to me of them again, do you hear me? I am here for Harry; I could not care less if you fell off that cliff. If you expect me to accept your apology, or even acknowledge it, then it's obvious you know nothing about me. Not that you've ever wanted to know me, you arrogant pig; I've always been too below you to be worth your notice. Which I am perfectly fine with. You can continue in your prejudiced ways for all I care, just don't ever mention them again to me. I will make sure you never speak again. Don't try me, I mean it."

Draco sat perfectly still absorbing her outburst. He wanted to interrupt and tell her that all the blood stuff didn't matter to him anymore, that it hadn't in a very long time, but he decided it would be best for him to keep his mouth shut.

She turned to Harry. "I'm leaving. I'll be back tomorrow after work." Then, with a glare at Malfoy, she added, "Maybe." She turned on her heel and headed toward the door.

"Granger." Hermione turned around, anticipating his rebuttal and ready to fight him. But he just flicked his wrist and a piece of parchment flew toward her. She caught it; it read "Hake's Edge". Of course – she didn't actually know where she was, and would not be able to get back without knowing. She said nothing and walked onto the front stoop.

"Hermione," called Harry, following her. "Could you get this stuff for us?" he asked, holding out a list of items.

"Sure," she said, her heart slowing to its normal rate.

Harry forced a smile that ended up looking like he was in a moderate amount of pain. "Nice exit."

She returned his wary smile "Thanks. I'm going to the Burrow today. Anything you want me to say to, oh, I don't know, your wife?"

"Oh, Hermione, no. She doesn't know you're with me. Remember, it's supposed to look like nothing's changed for you."

"Really? Even for Ginny?" she was sad that she would have no one to talk to about what was going on except the two people – well, one person and one snake really – who were involved.

Harry knew what was bothering her, that it would be hard to keep such a huge thing secret. Not that Hermione wasn't good at secrets, he just knew she needed to talk about things going on in her life, and now her list of listeners was a grand total of two. "I'm sorry, but no, she doesn't."

Hermione sighed. "Okay. Well, I'll see you tomorrow." She hugged him tight. "Bye, Harry. Be safe. If you accidentally toss Malfoy off the cliff, I won't be upset."

He chuckled. "Now, Hermione, you know I can't do that."

She shrugged. "I can hope, can't I?" "Have a good day. Oh, and when I don't show up tomorrow, you'll have to act surprised." She nodded, then Disapparated.

Harry returned to the kitchen and sat down. "Want to tell me what that was about?"

Draco frowned. "Her parents."

"Oh."

They were silent for a few minutes, finishing their breakfast.

"My, she is a feisty one, isn't she?" said Draco, standing to put his plate away.

"You have no idea."

Harry and Draco spent the day training. It was the first of what was to be hundreds, possibly, and Harry was exhausted. Draco put him through all kinds of what he'd called 'tests', to determine Harry's skills and his weaknesses, both magical and physical. As the sun went down, Draco ended the session, and told Harry they would continue with the tests the following day.

Then Draco made dinner. After they started eating, he told Harry he would reserve judgment on his skills until he'd had a thorough look at them. The rest of the meal passed in silence.

Harry spent his time thinking about this potential mess he'd gotten himself into. The thing was, he trusted Malfoy. The things he'd told him that day in his office had shocked Harry to the core – one thing in particular – and Harry thought nothing would ever shock him again after all he'd seen.

He didn't know how this would turn out, but Malfoy seemed confident they would be successful, that he would be successful. He seemed to have an answer for every doubt, every question Harry raised. Except Hermione. Draco was oddly silent with respect to her, and had been since that day in Harry's office. Either he didn't want to talk about her, or he didn't have any answers.

Harry suspected the latter; Hermione could be a wild card, as the previous day had shown when she demanded to be trained as well. He wished it were possible. He knew she would pick up on things more quickly than him, thus not directly impeding his own training, but it would still delay his training. And Malfoy insisted they stick to a rigorous schedule; Hermione wouldn't be able to keep up with training and do her main task.

Harry sighed. He missed Ginny already. They didn't live together, and no one knew about them being together, to say nothing of them being married. It almost made it fun. They had to sneak around, meet in obscure places, sometimes for as little as ten minutes. But it was worth it; they never took their time together for granted. He intended to see her, if only on Christmas, and he hoped Malfoy would let him off to see her more often, but even if he did, it would be tricky. They had to go around her family, and the added complication that Hermione knew about them and was with him at the Edge, and would see Ginny much more… it made his head spin to think about.

He was glad Hermione would be there this weekend, when he told Ginny he was gone on his secret mission. For one, she'd have her good friend with her, and two, it would throw off any notion that Hermione knew what was going on with him.

"Thanks for dinner, Malfoy."

Draco looked at him and merely nodded.

"I think I'll head up."

"Okay."

Harry left Draco at the table and went to his room. He tried reading, but Ginny's face when he told her he would be leaving soon on a mission, not sanctioned by the Ministry, and wouldn't be able to see her or write her much, kept disturbing his concentration. Her face had been full of sadness, but determination as well. She'd told him that if he was sure it was the right thing, she'd support him, but be worried all the same. She was her mother's daughter, after all.

He gave up reading and lay in his small but comfortable bed staring at the ceiling, thinking about his beautiful wife until he drifted into a relaxed sleep.

ooo

Hermione arrived at the Burrow as they were sitting down to eat breakfast. The Weasleys welcomed her gladly, talking animatedly with her and forcing food onto her plate. She looked at each one of them in turn while she ate in silence. Molly and Arthur were just the same as they'd always been, loving and kind and warm. Bill and Fleur were absent; they lived in the Wizarding section of London. Charlie had moved home a few years ago, after Dumbledore died, to help fight on the front of the conflict with Voldemort; he was laughing at something Ron said, taking a bite of eggs.

Percy had returned to the fold one evening two years prior and his mother had accepted him back with no explanation, causing an uproar among the other boys. Eventually, Percy apologized to the entire family, gave an attempt at an explanation, which Fred and George scoffed at, then broke down crying, telling all of them that since You-Know-Who returned, he'd had nightmares every single night that one of them died. Molly had immediately started crying, as had Fleur, and hugged her son tightly. Arthur and Bill were the first to accept his return. Hermione supposed it was because they were older, and understood truly what this war meant – that at any point one of them could die – and they didn't want to take the chance of not saying how they felt about each other. Charlie was next to accept him, and Fred, George, Ron and Ginny soon followed, but they weren't as forgiving as the older siblings. Fred and George especially carried a grudge, even now.

They were currently stuffing flat cakes into their mouths, talking happily with Ginny about their newest line of products. Their business had grown so rapidly that they had opened a branch in Hogsmeade, where Ginny worked with George; Fred stayed in the London shop. They were quite well-off, and gave a lot of money to the Order and their families

Ron had been injured badly in a battle 14 months ago. He had become an Auror, like she and Harry, and they were called to investigate a warehouse suspected to house Death Eaters and a number of Dark objects. Though twelve Aurors made the trip, they were greatly outnumbered. It seemed as though there was some sort of gathering scheduled for that night, as there were nearly 50 Death Eaters present. They were outnumbered, and on enemy territory. It didn't take long to decide they needed to retreat, but several were injured and one killed before they made it out. Hermione nearly chocked on her juice when she realized Malfoy had probably been there, considering he was such an important Death Eater. Hermione resisted the urge to scream in frustration; what was she doing? Was she really doing the right thing? She shook her head to clear him out of her thoughts.

Ron had to learn to walk again, and the recovery took nearly a year. Now he was back to his normal self, but he hadn't reentered the fight, wanting just a little more time to rest and be with his family. He was planning on returning to work in October, but with Harry's absence soon to be noticed, she wondered if he would return at all. She knew he would want to do something useful, and thought that instead of returning to the Ministry, he might devote his time fully to the Order.

Ginny was laughing at Fred and George, but Hermione could tell that all was not well with her friend. There was sadness at the edges of her eyes that was not usually there. Hermione wished she could hug the girl and make that sadness go away.

After breakfast, she spent the morning with Ginny and Ron, walking around the yard and talking.

"Have you seen Harry, Hermione?" asked Ron. Hermione felt Ginny tense next to her.

"No, why?"

He shrugged. "He usually comes by for breakfast on Sundays. It's a big meal here now, and he's always here. Just wondered if you knew anything."

"No." She hated lying to them, to her dearest friends.

"Oh well. Maybe something came up," said Ron, shuffling his feet through the leaves.

Ginny nodded and changed the subject. "How's work going for you, Hermione? We haven't seen you in a few weeks."

"You remember that really hard assignment Harry gave me?" They nodded. "Well, it finally ended Friday. I am very relieved to have it out of my life." She groaned inwardly, thinking that the assignment, Malfoy, was in her life more than ever now.

"That's good, Hermione," offered Ron. "Was Harry at work Friday?"

"Yes," she said, nervous that the conversation had returned to Harry so quickly.

"He didn't stop by all weekend. I'm worried."

"Oh Ron, don't be silly," she said, trying to sound as easy as possible. "I'm sure he's fine. Like you said, something work-related probably came up."

"Still, he always comes for dinner or just to hang out," he continued.

"Ron, let's just drop it, okay? We don't know what's going on with Harry, but I'm sure he's fine, and he doesn't need us worrying about him," said Ginny, clearly not wanting to continue this conversation.

"Fine," he said, grumpily. They talked about light subjects the rest of the morning. Lunch was spent with the entire family again, and after lunch, Ron went with Fred and George to their shop and Hermione spent the time with Molly and Ginny, baking cookies and cakes for a Ministry function that Molly and Arthur had to attend during that week.

It sometimes amazed Hermione that life kept going in the strangest ways, despite the War. Part of her thought that things like balls and fancy dinners shouldn't happen, that people shouldn't laugh, until they were safe. But then, they wouldn't truly be safe once Voldemort was defeated. That was part of life. The other part of her realized that of course people should laugh, because it's how you fight, why you fight; so laughter could continue.

Dinner was delicious, as always, and after dinner everyone sat together in the main room, talking, reading, or whatever they wanted. The Weasleys cherished the time they had together and spent every moment possible with each other, even Percy. Ginny got the letter from Harry after dinner and went to bed early. Hermione excused herself to go to her and talk if she wanted. She knocked on the door to Ginny's room, which was where Hermione would be sleeping as well.

"Come in," came Ginny's voice.

Hermione opened the door and shut it behind her after she was in the room. She sat on the bed next to Ginny.

"Is that from Harry?" she asked.

Ginny nodded. "He's – gone."

"What do you mean?"

"He – he went on some mission. I don't know anything about it." Hermione knew that Ginny wanted to tell her everything, about their marriage, Harry's mission; everything. But she didn't, she just wiped her eyes and crawled into bed.

It was hard for Hermione; she wanted to comfort her friend, but she couldn't do it properly without telling her that she knew, and she'd told Harry she wouldn't. She sighed and got into bed as well, thinking about everything that had changed in her life that weekend. She drifted to sleep, her last thought about Harry.

ooo

The next morning, Hermione went to work as usual. Harry's failure to show for work caused quite a stir, but most figured he would he there the next day. She guessed that they would start to panic by the end of the week. After an otherwise uneventful day at work, she went shopping for the things on her list from Harry. She visited most of the shops in Diagon Alley before going to her flat.

Hermione collected a few things – some clothes, a few favorite books, and some things she thought she might need, even though Malfoy had provided more than enough. Malfoy. Hermione plopped down on her bed, scowling at the thought of him. She decided she would return, for Harry's sake; she couldn't leave him alone, and she didn't trust Malfoy for one second. With her there, at least she could keep an eye on Harry.

But she dreaded returning and having to face him again. Why had he apologized? Nothing made sense; it didn't fit with the picture of him she had formed in her head. He was heartless, evil and cruel. And he'd killed her parents, something she could never forgive. Never. How could she even have bothered to say she could never forgive him; of course she couldn't, it didn't even need thinking. But she'd thought it, nonetheless. It disturbed her to no end.

Hermione shook her head clear of thoughts about the blond boy and, making sure she'd gathered everything she needed, Apparated to Hake's Edge. No one was there when she entered the house, and for a brief moment she was relieved, though it meant only a postponement of seeing his face. She put the bags of supplies on the dining table and went outside to the cliff's edge. When she looked down, she saw the ledge they'd spoken of, and Harry and Malfoy were there, spells flying in all directions.

Hermione returned to the house and started dinner. An hour later, the men hadn't returned, so she set the table and kept the food warm, then settled in the drawing room with a new book. Another hour passed before they came inside.

"Mmm… Hermione must be back," she heard Harry say. "Be nice, Malfoy."

Hermione heard him grunt, "I know, Harry." She smiled, grateful for her friend.

"Wonder where she is?" said Harry.

Hermione stood and went into the drawing room. "Hi, Harry!" she said brightly, hugging him. She ignored Malfoy, even refusing to look at him. She sat at the table while they ate, talking pleasantly with Harry.

"How was the Burrow?" he asked.

"Wonderful. Everyone was there, even Percy, the monstrous git. He's really been trying, but Fred and George refuse to accept him, even after all this time. They weren't as close to him as Molly or Arthur, or even Bill and Charlie. So they have no desire to forgive him. It hurts Molly severely. Ginny has been trying to be nice, but her brothers always scold her for talking to him. It's unfortunate, really."

"Yeah, that's a shame. I mean, Percy's always been a right prat, but it's been a year, already. They should just let it go and try to be a family again."

"What happened?" asked Draco.

Hermione refused to acknowledge that he'd spoken. She looked at Harry, who sighed and told Malfoy the story of Percy walking out of the family after Voldemort's return, then of his return a year prior.

"Oh."

"Ron and Ginny asked about you. Apparently you're a regular fixture at the Burrow and your absence was noted and not appreciated."

"Did Ginny get my letter?"

"Yes, last night. She didn't talk to anyone about it though, and I couldn't very well ask about it."

"How are Molly and Arthur? Any news from Remus and Tonks? Moody? Anyone?"

Hermione saw Draco roll his eyes. Without looking at him, she said, "This is what it's like having friends and people who care about you, Malfoy."

"Hermione!" cried Harry. Draco said nothing; he stood and took his plate outside to eat on the porch. Harry looked at Hermione with sympathy in his eyes. "I know this seems impossible. We should all make an effort to be civil."

"Why? He's not."

"Yes, he is. He didn't say a single mean word to you and you were terrible to him just now."

"No mean words tonight, anyway."

"Hermione, he didn't mention your parents in order to hurt you."

"Oh really? Do you know what he said?"

"Well, no, but – "

"Then you don't know, you can't know why he mentioned them. I don't even know! I cannot believe he had the nerve to talk about them to me."

"Hermione, I have put my feelings about him away. It's been hard, but he's made it easy, surprisingly. He hasn't said or done anything to upset me or push my buttons. Why would he do that to you?"

"Because he hates me!" Hermione was yelling now. "I'm a Mudblood, the lowest level of filth to him. He killed my parents!"

Draco could hear her from outside, and he lost his appetite rather quickly after her last outburst. He left the porch and walked to the edge of the cliff. He threw the plate full of food over the cliff with all his might, then watched it tumble into the abyss below. The plate was swallowed up by the crashing waves; part of him wanted to be swallowed up too. Was this really worth it? Was he doing the right thing? Of course he was, he had been planning this for a long time, and he'd had plenty of time to think it through. She was making it difficult, but he should have expected it. He had to an extent, she was just being more difficult than he'd imagined. Her parents' death bothered her more than he'd anticipated, but he wasn't surprised that he'd underestimated her passion. He had nothing he cared about enough to really miss if it were taken away, certainly not his own parents. They had done nothing but poison him since he was born; they'd never shown him love or even affection. Only impossible expectation followed by disappointment when he failed; and he always failed to live up to his father's standards.

No one had ever cared about him until he met them. He tried to think how he would feel if they were taken away from him. And he could just begin to imagine Hermione's pain at losing her parents. He softened toward her a bit, though he would still be hard on her. He had to be. He couldn't risk getting too soft, and he certainly couldn't risk getting too close to her.

After what felt like hours, he became aware of someone standing nearby him.

"Hey, can we talk?"

He turned around to see Hermione standing a few yards away from him, biting her lip.

"What," he said blankly.

She sat on the grass and looked at him, waiting. He shrugged and sat down where he was.

"I'm sorry," she said.

Draco nearly laughed he was so surprised. "Why? You've not done anything."

"If we're going to be working together, we – I – need to at least be civil. I won't try to hurt you anymore."

"You didn't. Hurt me, I mean." It was a lie, and she probably knew it.

"Well, I still meant to hurt you; I won't try again. We'll probably still fight and argue, but I won't try to hurt you deliberately."

He said nothing, still stunned that she was apologizing to him. He wasn't much one for apologizing; it meant he was wrong, and he didn't like to be wrong. He rarely was, in truth.

"So, what do you think?"

"You're right; you need to be more civil towards me."

Hermione stared at the back of his head, incredulous. Then he turned around slightly to look at her, and she saw a small, awkward smile on his lips. Her tension eased, and she slowly returned the smile. Then she pulled up a handful of grass and threw it at him. "Jerk," she said, with barely any malice in her voice.

Draco merely returned to looking at the water.

"Goodnight, Malfoy," she said, rising. Draco stayed by the edge of the cliff, thinking maybe this would turn out all right after all. That maybe they would get along well enough and get through this without killing each other. When he finally went to go inside, he found Hermione asleep on the porch. He covered her again with his cloak and went inside.

ooo

A/N: Did you know that reviews absolutely make my day? Can't wait to hear what you think:)