When I woke up the morning after the ball, my head was pounding. I felt like I had been hit with several stunners before taking an international Portkey and landing flat on my face. Groaning, I rolled over into a puddle of my own drool. I was afraid to even open my eyes, and I prayed that Blaise was situated on the opposite side of the bed, none the wiser to my struggle.

But then I felt a hand on the side of my face that wasn't currently against the wet pillowcase and lips press to my forehead.

"Morning, Tesoro. I'm going to get you a hangover potion and some water. Hold on," he said.

I just grumbled in return, and I swore I heard him laugh to himself. I slowly opened my eyes and sat up, wiping at my face. I had obviously had far too much to drink — all of it wine and champagne — and I was convinced that I might actually die from this hangover.

A few minutes later he was back, handing me the uncorked potion first and then water to chase it with. I squeezed my eyes shut while it traveled down to my stomach and made its way into my bloodstream. I sipped the water slowly and finally sighed when the potion hit my brain.

"I love magic," I admitted. "It would've taken Muggle medicine at least an hour to help with this."

Blaise chuckled again.

Cracking one eye open, I looked straight at him. "Why are you not hung over? You drank just as much as I did!"

He sat beside me on the bed and pulled me into his arms. "I really didn't, Hermione. I was sober most of the night, wanting to make sure I was ready if you needed me. I didn't think you'd just get pissed to deal with seeing him."

Embarrassment washed over me; I hadn't intended to get drunk to deal with seeing Draco. I really hadn't. It just sort of… happened. Seeing him leading Astoria around the room was more painful than I had thought it would be. I'd known they were attending — Blaise had asked Lucius — and I'd thought I was prepared for this second run-in.

I wasn't.

Honestly, I wasn't sure how I'd even deal with being in the same Ministry department with him on a daily basis, and he'd be back to work when I arrived on Monday. I was absolutely terrified that every bit of progress I'd made over the past few months would be shattered by his very presence, and I didn't know how to tell Blaise I was feeling that way.

"I didn't mean to," I answered him finally. "I just… got carried away, I think. He kept looking at me—"

"I'm aware," he interrupted.

"—and I didn't think he would. Honestly, he shouldn't remember anything."

Blaise squeezed me tighter. "He doesn't. You knew he wanted you long before the night of his stag party. He just never acted on it."

"But at Christmas, Lucius told us that he and Astoria were happy. If he's happy with her, why…?" I trailed off.

"Because you're you, Tesoro. And it's probably hard for him to see you with me," he answered. "You might not get it since you're not a bloke, but when it comes to females between friends, there are some ground rules. I've basically pissed all over them."

"He's married—"

"I know that, and he knows that, but he still cares about you, and I'm with you now, Hermione. He probably didn't think I'd go anywhere near you."

Fucking men. Why do they have to be so bloody confusing?

As I contemplated Blaise's words, I stayed silent. I really didn't know what to say to him. If Draco was feeling betrayed now, I couldn't even imagine what he'd feel if he knew the whole story. My guilt started to spiral inside of me, and I had to take a few deep breaths to regain my centre.

Once I had, I said, "He's married and has a son. That's why I did what I did to begin with. He didn't love me enough to leave Astoria and commit to me after things started up between us, and he kept sleeping with her."

Kissing the top of my head, Blaise replied, "You're absolutely right."

"And he didn't even consider that he shouldn't have been having unsafe sex with two women," I added. "If either of us had some sort of infection, he would've given it to the other. That's just… disgusting."

My words were coming out in a rush, my anxiety overflowing.

"Thank Merlin I was on the potion. I could've ended up pregnant, too! And that would've been an even bigger disaster. Can you even imagine Lucius' reaction if I'd gotten pregnant?"

"Tesoro, calm down," he said. "You're fine. None of those things happened. There is no need to worry about them now."

"But I'm angry! I know it was so long ago, but I'm just remembering what I felt when he first told me that Astoria was pregnant, and it won't stop—"

I felt his hand cup my jaw, and he turned my face towards him. Meeting my eyes, he said, "You had every right to be angry with him then, Hermione. Hell, I'd argue that you should still be angry about the way he treated you, but it's not going to do anything to change the situation." He moved in closer, giving me a gentle kiss before resting his forehead against mine. "And, on top of that, I don't want your brain fixated on him. You're going to be seeing him every day, and I know that's going to be an adjustment, but I thought you were here with me now."

"I am!" I replied quickly. "I'm just going to need a little time, I think."

I kissed him this time, but when he tried to deepen it, I pulled back. "Not yet. My mouth is not a happy place to be at the moment."

Laughing, he said, "Your mouth is always a happy place to be."

I grabbed a pillow and hit him with it. "Can you help me get to the shower? And then will you feed me something? Please?"

Blaise stood up and wrapped his arms around me so he could lift me up. "Absolutely, Tesoro. I'll definitely take a shower with you."

"I didn't—"

"It's the price of the ride, love," he teased, making me smile.

After the shower, Blaise suggested we spend the day at home. I was perfectly fine with that plan since I needed time to mentally prepare for Monday.

We ate breakfast and then spent the morning reading. Of course, Draco and Astoria were featured in the Sunday edition of the Prophet. Their photo took up a quarter of the page, showing them smiling for the cameras as they walked into the gala. From the look on Draco's face, I could tell he was uncomfortable.

And they weren't touching.

He was letting Astoria talk to the reporters, but he didn't want to. It was clear that she still didn't know him at all; since the war, he hated the fame — or infamy — that came with his name.

We had that in common.

Even though it was irrational, my anger reignited as I flipped through the pages of the paper. When I got to the continuation, there was a photo of Blaise holding me close, my back to his front, his arms around my waist, and Draco and Astoria stood closeby. Blaise kissed my neck, making my eyelids flutter closed and Draco's eyes lock on us. Astoria's too.

Gods, they were both watching me closely.

"When was this?" I asked.

Blaise smirked. "We were in the queue for drinks and then we chatted with Harry and Pansy, the elder Malfoys, and Ron and Luna."

I really had been pissed. I barely remembered any of the night.

Moving closer to me, he took the paper from my hands and folded it up, setting it down on the coffee table. He curled a hand around the side of my neck and pulled me in for a kiss, his lips working their way down to the same spot on my throat and sending the same jolt of pleasure through me.

The heat of my anger travelled down into my belly, morphing into something sweeter. Blaise knew how to settle and calm me, how to distract me when I was starting to spiral and needed it.

Slowly, I started to sink down onto the sofa, pulling him with me and cradling him between my thighs, bringing his lips to mine again. When I rocked against him, he reciprocated, giving me the friction I was nonverbally begging for. He grabbed my leg and hitched it higher along his ribs, opening me wider, before sliding his hand down to grab my arse.

With each steady grind of his length against my centre, my brain fogged more and more, only able to focus on him. I didn't want to pause, didn't want him to stop even though we were simply on the couch rutting against each other like teenagers. When I moaned, his lips moved back to my neck and his hand slid under my shirt, his fingers lightly pinching my nipple.

Bit by bit, he built the intensity, moving faster, pinching harder, his lips moving up towards my ear. When I felt his hot breath against the shell of it, I whimpered and he whispered, "Let go, Tesoro. Come for me. You're right there."

Shivering at his murmured words, my hands moved to his arse, pulling him even closer. He thrusted more powerfully, and I was lost.

"Fuck," I cried, arching into him as waves of pleasure crashed over me. "Blaise!"

"Mmmm," he hummed against my skin. "Shall I continue? Or are you spent?"

I glanced down at him. His dark eyes were hungry, looking like they wanted to devour me. My breaths were already shallow, my heart still pounding from the orgasm I'd just had.

"When have I ever been spent after one?" I asked, teasing him.

Blaise laughed and kissed my lips. "Mind if we move this to the bed? I need space for what I want to do to you."

He didn't wait for a response; he stood and lifted me from the couch, making me smile.

"Well, who am I to say no to an offer like that?"

And I knew how we'd be spending our afternoon — naked, in his bed, fooling around and then dozing off. He would make it his mission to keep my mind off Draco, and I knew he would mostly succeed.

Mostly.

On Monday morning, I got ready for work, carefully pulling my hair back from my face and pinning it in place. When I brushed mascara over my lashes, I thought about the way Draco used to watch me do it, like it was something extraordinary.

"Your lips always part when you do that," he commented, leaning against the doorframe. "It's adorable, Granger. It's not something I ever would've imagined you doing."

After putting my mascara wand back in the tube, I turned to face him. "Get out. I need to get ready without commentary."

Smirking, he stepped closer to me, eventually wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me close. "But you're so sexy when you think no one's looking. I don't know why, but I love watching you get ready for the day. And, if I catch you in time, I can do this."

He kissed me hard, his hands slipping down to my arse and squeezing. I moaned into his mouth and he greedily swallowed the sound.

When we broke apart, he said, "I wouldn't have been able to kiss you like that if you'd already put on that Muggle lipstick you like so much."

My breaths were unsteady, my heart racing as I looked up into his silver eyes and fell under his spell.

Coming out of the memory, I resumed my routine and sprayed the perfume I'd always worn on my neck and wrists, rubbing it in and trying to forget how much he'd loved it. When I slipped into my dress, Blaise stepped behind me and zipped it up slowly, pressing a kiss to the back of my neck when it was fully closed. "You look gorgeous as always, Hermione."

"Thank you," I replied, trying to shift my focus to him — to the man I was with now, rather than the one in my past.

"How do you want to approach this today?"

"Honestly? I'm not even sure," I said.

Since the night Blaise had returned from the Dolohov mission in March, we'd been more relaxed in the office, not really hiding our relationship. We arrived together and left together whenever we could. He often looped his arm around my waist or put a hand on the small of my back.

It had been nice exchanging the innocent touches, but after the way Draco's eyes had zeroed in on his hands at the ball, I was feeling wary. I didn't want him watching me — watching us. However, I didn't want to upset Blaise, either.

"Do you want to just act like it's a normal day?" he asked.

Thinking that was probably the best option, I nodded. "Yeah, let's do that. I mean, he's just coming back to work. He doesn't know anything. I've ripped the plaster off and seen him now. Everything should be relatively fine."

By the look on his face, I could tell Blaise didn't fully believe me, but I wasn't going to try to convince him when I hadn't managed to fully convince myself. Grabbing my hand, Blaise led me into the kitchen where my coffee and some toast were already waiting for me. He watched me as I ate, ensuring that I wasn't going to start skipping meals again.

"Really, Blaise, I'm fine," I said. "I'm eating. I'm having my coffee. I'm going to work. Yes, I got drunk at the ball and had a hangover, but I'm okay today. You don't need to watch over me."

He shook his head. "You still don't get it. I'm always going to watch over you and look after you, Hermione. That's normal. It's what a boyfriend is supposed to do." Pausing for a second, he moved his chair closer to mine and rested a hand on my thigh. "I know your habits when you're stressed, and I know that being around Draco again is going to affect you more than you're willing to admit."

"I won't lie to you—"

"Not directly, no, but you'll try to hide your emotions from me. You're not going to want to worry me, but I'll tell you a secret," he began. "I'm always going to worry. I'm always going to put your well-being before mine, Tesoro."

His words shocked me into silence; I could only smile at him in response. Sometimes, he overwhelmed me with his sweetness.

After we'd finished eating, Blaise went back into the bedroom to grab his Auror robes and I stood in front of the Floo wringing my hands for a solid minute. I was internally freaking out about this day and I didn't know how to stop.

When I heard Blaise approaching, I unclasped my hands and smiled at him. "Are you ready to head in?"

He nodded and placed his hand on the small of my back. "I'll be behind you in just a minute. Don't forget your bag."

I summoned it and slung it over my shoulder before grabbing a handful of Floo powder. Gathering my courage, I stepped into green flames.

As I landed in the Ministry's atrium, I took a deep breath and strode towards the lift like it was any other workday. There was nothing different or special about today. I was just going to work and that was that. Finding the lift with the shortest queue, I got in line. An arm looped around my waist and I turned around to see Blaise.

"I thought you would take longer. I would've waited by the Floo."

Wearing a serious expression, he shook his head. "Like I'd let you walk into the department alone today."

"I wouldn't have survived this without you. You know that, right?" I asked.

"You would have. Potter would've stepped in more if I hadn't been there and you're strong on your own," he replied. "But thanks for saying it, Hermione."

As we stepped into the lift, he held me tightly against his side. I leaned into him, accepting the extra support that I so desperately needed today. I wasn't sure what time Draco would be coming into the office, but I needed to be steady if he was already there. When the doors opened to reveal the DMLE, Blaise guided me forward.

Harry's office door was ajar, and I could see Draco sitting in the chair in front of the desk. Blaise noticed him, as well.

"Do you want to get the greetings over with now?" he asked.

I nodded and we headed towards the office together. Since the door was open, Harry noticed our approach, his eyes lingering on Blaise's possessive hold on my waist. I knew I'd be interrogated later; that look said it all — do you really think it's a good idea to flaunt your relationship like this?

Out of courtesy to Draco, I knocked and said, "Good morning. Welcome back, Malfoy."

He turned and eyed me, his gaze moving up and down my body, taking in my hair, dress, and heels. His eyes landed on Blaise's hand, as well. He rose and held out his right hand, forcing Blaise to release me to shake.

"Zabini," he greeted.

"Malfoy," Blaise replied. "It's good to see you back, mate."

Draco's eyes lingered on Zabini's hand, which had reclaimed its spot on my waist. His eyes traveled up and he finally greeted me. "Granger. You look nice."

"Thank you. I hope your first few days back won't be too stressful," I answered, keeping my voice steady and professional.

A heavy silence settled over the room.

"Malfoy, let's finish up all this paperwork and that kind of thing. You can catch up with Zabini later on. Hermione, there is a strange set of runes found at a crime scene on your desk. See if you can make any sense of them," Harry commanded, dismissing Blaise and me in an effort to regain Draco's attention.

"See you later," I replied, heading for my office.

Blaise had pulled me tighter to his side before I could extricate myself from his hold, guiding me into my space. Once I'd set my bag down on my desk, he spun me and pressed me against the door he'd quietly closed, kissing me with more heat than I was used to and definitely smearing my lipstick.

When he broke away, I was breathless. He stared into my eyes and said, "I want you to think of me, Hermione. All day. Think about that kiss and about coming home with me tonight."

I nodded. "I will. How could I not after that?"

With a smirk, he released me and I moved around to my desk chair. Once I'd sat down, he opened the door to my office. He ran his thumb over his bottom lip, likely removing any lipstick he'd taken off me, and it was sexier than it should've been. The motion made me squirm in my seat.

"I'll see you later, Tesoro."

For a few moments, I thought of him, of what would likely transpire tonight when we got home. My stomach filled with butterflies, the anticipation already beginning.

And then I got down to work, examining the runes that Harry wanted an answer about.

Luckily, the runes presented me with a challenge and I worked steadily until it was time to go to lunch. I couldn't think about Draco. I didn't want to overanalyse the way he'd looked at Blaise's hand on my waist or complimented me. Knowing I was likely to go into a spin, I focused on the task at hand. The runes were the priority and Malfoy was just coming back to work. He knew he had been an Auror, and he had decided to return to it. End of.

He didn't remember everything that had happened between us in this very office.

And Blaise. I had Blaise. I was going home with him tonight, and Draco was going home to Astoria and Scorpius.

Harry knocked on my door around midday and then stepped in. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to get over here until now. Are you okay?"

"I'm just focusing on the runes. Nothing else really matters right now," I responded.

"What was that with Blaise this morning? You're not usually one to cling to him."

I looked up and fixed him with a pointed glare. "He was supporting me. Do you think it was easy for me to just walk in there and rip the plaster off?"

"I wasn't sure how it would be for you. You seemed okay at the ball over the weekend," Harry answered.

Arching a brow at him, I said, "I got completely pissed and had the hangover from hell yesterday. Blaise had to peel me out of bed and carry me to the shower."

"Oh. I didn't realise. You didn't seem drunk." He paused. "Okay, this is getting awkward. Let's move on. Do you want to go to lunch with me?"

"Just us?" I asked.

Harry grinned. "We could go to Diagon Alley and kidnap Ron. I'm sure George can spare him for a lunch."

At the thought of a lunch with my boys — since it didn't really matter that we were nearing thirty at this point, they would always be my boys — I smiled and nodded. "We haven't had a proper chat with him in a few weeks. I'm sure he's missing us."

"My thoughts exactly," Harry remarked, helping me up and waiting while I slid my shoes back on. I constantly rearranged myself in my desk chair, usually sitting on one leg or the other, so I never wore shoes in my office, a fact that he was well-aware of.

I grabbed my handbag and Harry opened the door for me. When we exited the office and Blaise saw I was smiling, he smiled back. This prompted Draco to turn and look at me, as well. Harry's arm was wrapped around my shoulders and we headed towards the lift. I waved to Blaise, and both he and Draco returned the gesture.

Awkward.

"His eyes still follow you everywhere, you know. I noticed it this morning," Harry whispered.

"I know. He'll eventually stop. If I don't encourage his advances like last time, nothing will happen," I replied.

The look on Harry's face told me that he wasn't so sure, but I chose to believe my own self-deception.

When we walked through the door of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, Ron smiled and picked me up, hugging me close.

"You guys haven't come for lunch in ages!" he said, his excitement evident in his voice.

I held on to him tightly, enjoying the familiarity of his arms wrapped around me and the feeling of his Weasley jumper against my cheek. Before I knew it, Harry had me sandwiched between them in an odd group hug. After the war, when we had all been scared to lose each other, this had been a familiar greeting. I turned myself so I could wrap one arm around Harry and the other around Ron.

"I've missed this," I said quietly. "We need to go back to having lunch every week or every other week."

Ron looked at me quizzically. "Hermione, not that I don't want to, but we haven't done that in years."

"I know. It's all my fault," I said.

I knew my emotions were getting the best of me — they were all over the place today.

Harry, thankfully, jumped in. "I'm sure you remember that Malfoy was coming back to work today. She's just struggling a little bit."

I could see the blood flooding Ron's cheeks. "Hermione, you know you don't have to stay in the DMLE. I'm sure Kingsley would let you switch departments if you really wanted to. You don't need to see that wanker every damn day."

Smiling at him, I replied, "It's okay. It's just hard because it's the first day. Harry and Blaise are looking after me at work. You don't have to worry about me."

"I am going to worry about you. You carried on with that bouncing ferret for over a year without telling anyone," he said, reminding me that I'd effectively lied to everyone.

Even now, I wanted to defend Draco, to defend my actions. But I didn't. I was moving on, and I didn't have to do that.

"Right. Well, I'm not going to make the same mistakes again," I began. "I've obviously learned a lot over the past three years, and I won't let Draco pull me back in. I promise."

Ron still wasn't convinced. "I don't want him near you, Hermione. His eyes were all over you at the gala. He's still obsessed with you."

He's not. He doesn't care about me at all. If anything, he's just remembering his childhood crush. It was the first time we'd seen each other more than in passing…

"Ronald, I work with Draco again now. I'm going to be around him. It's unavoidable since I'm not willing to quit my job," I answered sharply.

Harry laughed, and I knew he wasn't being insensitive — he wanted to move the conversation along before Ron and I really got into a row. If that happened, our whole lunch would be ruined. "There she is. Our bossy Hermione."

I felt Ron press a kiss to the top of my head. "I just don't want to see you hurting anymore. If he tries to start things up again, you need to tell us. He's married with a son. He shouldn't be chasing skirts around the office."

Before things could get tense again, George walked out of the backroom and said, "Bloody hell! The whole Golden Trio! Can I get your autographs?!"

I swatted at him. "Prat! It's good to see you, though."

"Come to kidnap my baby brother for lunch?" George asked.

"Yep," Harry answered. "We've decided it's been far too long since the three of us have been out alone."

George mimed pushing us towards the door and we all linked arms, heading down the street to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Let's try to get through to Muggle London as quickly as possible," Harry whispered. "I don't fancy being stopped by anyone today. I just want to enjoy our lunch."

Once we crossed the barrier, I breathed a sigh of relief. It was lucky that many wizards still avoided crossing into Muggle areas; it made it easier to escape into a more simple life where no one knew who we were. We walked on the pavement, heading towards the small restaurant we ate at nearly every time we had lunch.

After we were settled in a booth, Harry and I on one side and Ron on the other, we started catching up in earnest.

"I didn't want to say anything at the ball," Ron began, "but Luna is pregnant again. She's going to have the baby around Christmas."

"Congratulations, mate," Harry said. "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

Ron shrugged his shoulders. "You know Luna. She doesn't want to find out. She says that biological gender isn't the one that matters, whatever that's supposed to mean. I'm happy as long as she is and the baby's healthy."

The same feelings I'd been dealing with — or not dealing with — for years came rushing back to the surface. Between Harry and Ron, there would be five children by the end of the year.

I wasn't even married.

"That's wonderful, Ron. I'm really happy for you," I said, even though the last thing I was feeling today was happiness.

Harry started talking about the preparations he and Pansy had been making for the new baby's arrival, and I interjected when I felt like I had something to contribute. While my mind was spinning out in a different direction, I decided that I should probably call Penelope and make an appointment to talk. I couldn't talk to Blaise about feeling left behind. He'd likely think I was hinting at marriage, and I certainly was not ready for that right now.

Somehow, I managed to eat my entire lunch while chatting with Ron and Harry. They lured me into conversation, discussing plans for a get together before the newest Potter made their arrival.

"Of course we want you and Blaise to be there, Hermione," Harry said. "Come over around midday on Saturday if you're both free and feeling up to it."

"Why wouldn't we be feeling up to it?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I have a feeling it's going to be a long fucking week for you guys."

With a sigh, I replied, "You're probably right. It'll be good to have something to look forward to this weekend."

Ron reached across the table and grabbed my hand. "You're going to be fine, Hermione. You just need to steer clear of Malfoy as much as possible. I'm sure that Blaise will help you with that. He's likely worried."

Of course, I'd been so focused on my own feelings that I hadn't given a single thought to his.

"I know. I need to try to talk to him, but I'm afraid that I'll say all the wrong things and make him think that I'm still pining after Draco," I confessed. "And, just to be clear, I'm not pining after Draco. It's just an adjustment, seeing him again. I hadn't seen him in a year and a half, and since April, I'm now at three times—"

"Three?" Harry asked.

Swallowing hard, I said, "Yes. I ran into him in Diagon Alley before you told me he was coming back to work." They both looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to continue. "He was with Astoria and Scorpius. I tried to avoid him but someone stopped me on the street and then we quite literally ran into each other. We barely exchanged a dozen words."

"And you didn't tell anyone?" Ron questioned.

I felt my defenses rising. "No, I didn't. It didn't seem important at the time."

"That's bollocks and you know it," he spat. "You didn't want to talk about it, so you hid it from everyone. Just like the whole bloody affair."

As distant as Ron and I had become over the years, he still knew me. When I looked up, Harry was nodding in agreement, and I knew that they were going to be watching me at every turn until I proved that I could stay away from Draco.

"Fine. I might have had a bit of a breakdown afterward, but I really was okay just a few days later."

"Did you avoid Blaise while you were forcing yourself to be okay?" Ron asked.

Again, I breathed deeply, trying to calm myself before I answered him. "I didn't avoid him. I spent every night with him—"

"Okay. We get it. We don't need any more details than that," Harry interrupted, halting my speech.

I rolled my eyes. "I wasn't going to tell you any of those details. When have I ever talked to the two of you about my sex life?"

Both of them blushed and I laughed. "Seriously, guys, I'm going to be okay. Please don't treat me like I'm going to just break apart or fall back into old patterns with Draco."

"Okay, Hermione," Harry began. "I won't interfere unless I see him hanging around. You've been happier since you've been with Blaise, and I don't want you to go back to where you were before."

"And I don't want to go there, either," I said. "I want to keep moving on. I want to be happy."

"With Blaise?" Ron asked.

My hesitation spoke volumes, so I thought quickly. "I'm still figuring that out, if I'm honest. It feels right, but I don't want to say that he's it for me. There's no way to really know that."

They exchanged a look that told me that they knew I was absolutely full of shite.

"Listen, I know you're scared," Harry said, turning to face me and looking me straight in the eye. "But I think you're still holding back with Blaise. I don't know if it's because you still love Malfoy or what, but you need to let go and tell him everything."

"He knows nearly everything, Harry. He knows more than anyone else does."

"I dealt with Pansy holding back for a long time. She thought that I could never really love her because of the past, but she was the one who couldn't open up to me," he explained. "I waited for her, but at one point, I nearly gave up. We fell together so easily—the physical part of our relationship was so good—but I almost walked away because she just wouldn't tell me what she was thinking about. I could see it when she was shutting down and shutting me out. Blaise is a smart bloke, Hermione. I'm sure he's not blind to it."

My stomach started to churn, and then Ron chimed in.

"And I didn't fully let go of you for a long time. Luna—she could tell. She knew when I was thinking of you."

I set my elbows on the table and tangled my fingers in my hair. Harry moved closer and wrapped an arm around me. "We're not trying to upset you. We're trying to help you, Hermione. This whole thing with Malfoy coming back… It's not something any of us expected."

I wanted to scream. I wanted to lash out at both of them, but I knew it wouldn't help.

Of course I wasn't fucking expecting it! If I had known that Astoria and Lucius would be this fucking stupid, I wouldn't have agreed to Obliviate Draco in the first place!

"I know that you guys are trying to help," I managed to choke out. "I just need to sort this out on my own. I promise I'll ask for help if I need it, but I can't talk about Draco with you. I just can't."

Rising to his feet, Ron took a step and pulled me out of the booth, hugging me close. "I know it's hard, but you can't shut everyone out again. Will you please talk to someone?"

"I'll make an appointment with Penelope," I conceded. "And I'll tell Blaise why I'm doing it."

Ron squeezed me tighter and I wrapped my arms around his middle. "We've only just gotten you back, Hermione. I don't want to lose you again. It felt like we weren't friends for ages."

"We really weren't," I replied, though it was muffled by his chest.

With a laugh, he released me. "What was that?"

I repeated myself and we all exchanged sad looks.

Harry spoke first. "We all messed up, and we weren't there for you when you needed us. You were right when you told me off, Hermione. It shouldn't have taken years for us to repair things."

I looked around the restaurant, noticing that we'd drawn a lot of attention. "Come on. We're making a scene."

Ron shrugged his shoulders and Harry smirked. "Please. We make a scene everywhere we go. I'm trying to be serious right now."

"I know," I began. "And I appreciate that you admitted I was right, but there's nothing to be done about it now. We just can't let it all fall apart again."

"We won't," they said in unison, causing all three of us to laugh.

With that, we moved back towards Diagon Alley.

When we got back to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, George pulled Harry aside, leaving me alone with Ron.

"You know I want you to be happy, right?" he asked. At my nod, he continued. "As soon as Malfoy comes near you — and he will — you need to distance yourself from him. If you don't — if you let him believe that you're okay with him coming round — he's going to make a move on you again. I can see it in his eyes, Hermione."

I released a sigh. "Harry said he's going to be watching out for me."

"Pretty soon, Harry will be off," he reminded me. "As soon as Pansy has the baby, you'll be left alone with Malfoy and Blaise."

Even though the thought made my anxiety flare up, I pushed it all behind my mask. "I know, and I'll be fine."

"What if Blaise is called away on a mission? I would assume that Malfoy won't be on any for the next few months."

"Then I'll go to work and do my job, and I'm sure Dra—Malfoy will do the same," I replied.

Ron shook his head. "The second you're left alone, he's going to try to get close to you again, Hermione. And don't think I missed that you almost called him Draco."

"Look," I began. "We've talked this through a lot today. I am going to do everything in my power to stay away from Draco, minus leaving the DMLE. I won't hide anything like I did before. I promise."

Once again, he hugged me close. "I want to believe you, but you didn't tell us about Diagon, and that worries me."

I wasn't going to continue trying to convince him that I was fine. "I know. That was wrong."

"Don't hide things from us again," he murmured into my hair. "Please don't disappear on us again."

And, although I wasn't sure I could keep it, I made a promise.

"I won't."

Author's Note: Hi everyone! My schedule is going to be changing a little bit in the near future. I will still be updating every Saturday, but the posts will likely be later in the day than they have been to this point. I'll be switching from night shift to days, so bear with me.

As always, thank you so much for reading!