Chapter Text
“How many universes do you think we’re together in?”
“Higher than either of us can count.”
-Emily Henry, Happy Place
26 December 2004
“Bloody hell,” Ron murmured. “What are they wearing?”
Hermione’s gaze followed Ron’s to where Ginny and Blaise were exiting through the sliding glass door to meet the rest of the group waiting for them on the terrace. She immediately laughed.
“It’s from Dumb and Dumber,” she said.
“Who?” Ron asked, his red brows furrowed in confusion.
“You and Potter,” Draco quipped, causing Pansy to smack his arm.
“It’s a movie,” Hermione continued.
Ginny joined the group, wearing a geometric-patterned tight pink ski suit that clashed horribly with her red hair, exactly like the one Harry Dunne wore for his ski date with Mary Swanson. Blaise followed close behind, obviously dressed as the Mary in the relationship with his fitted black suit, black jacket with fur-lined hood, and black headband.
“You look ridiculous,” Theo said, gaze traveling over his former dorm-mate.
“Ah, yes,” Blaise sighed, looking down at himself. “The things I do for a great shag.”
Ginny, unperturbed, whooped as she high-fived her boyfriend.
“OI, YOU’RE MY BABY SISTER!” Ron bellowed.
Ginny opened her mouth to respond—likely with something incredibly inappropriate—but Pansy grabbed Ron by the arm, pushing up onto her toes to whisper in his ear. Ron’s face flushed as red as his hair, but soon a goofy grin spread across his features as he allowed himself to be led away.
Ginny groaned. “And he thinks the thought of my sex life is gross?”
Blaise and Ginny got into the front seat of the rented SUV, leaving the other six to pile into the back that had definitely been magically Extended.
Despite the extra space, Pansy placed herself on Ron’s lap and Harry placed himself on Theo’s, leaving Hermione and Draco awkwardly sharing the rest of the space. Any closeness they’d regained in the soft lights and bubbly prosecco of Christmas day was gone in the harsh late-morning sun reflecting off the bright white snow.
The drive to the resort was only twenty minutes but felt longer as Hermione’s attention jumped around to take in the couples. Harry and Theo were murmuring softly to one another. While Ron and Pansy weren’t speaking, they seemed so relaxed and content in one another’s presence, both their gazes fixed out the window, his hand trailing lightly up and down her side. Ginny was leaned over the centre console, talking animatedly to Blaise about all the reading she’d done about skiing and how her goal was to conquer the hardest slope by the end of the trip.
Hermione turned to Draco, no clue what she’d say, but fortunately, he saved her the trouble of figuring it out.
“How are things in the department then?” he asked quietly, a guarded expression in his eyes. She understood why. After all, it had been a fight about work that had ultimately broken them up.
“Fine. Lots of work to be done when I return in January.”
“I imagine. The werewolf legislation will change many lives for the better.”
Hermione felt that rising indignation that she’d experienced every time she thought about the bill that had passed in the Wizengamot last month. While she was happy that werewolves—a much larger population now thanks to the packs that had wreaked havoc under Greyback’s leadership during the War—would be receiving more protections under the law, she felt like crying when she remembered how those protections came to pass.
They arrived at the resort, thankfully bringing the tricky conversation to a close.
・❅・❅・❅・
After a two-hour introductory session, during which their group lost Pansy, Ron, and Theo to the promise of hot toddies at the bar in the lodge, Blaise, Ginny, Draco, and Harry decided they were ready to tackle the intermediate slope on their own.
Hermione, the only one in the group who’d skied before, had tried to convince them to stick with the bunny slope, but Gin had insisted that if she was going to be an expert by the end of the week, she couldn’t continue wasting her time. The boys apparently weren’t to be outdone because they all followed the redhead, her neon pink suit practically blinding in the bright light.
Ginny, ever the reckless Gryffindor, went first, followed closely by Harry. Hermione was pleased to see how steady the two looked on their skis and figured that if they could fly on broomsticks, skiing down the side of a mountain probably wasn’t much of a challenge.
Blaise looked uncharacteristically nervous, but before Hermione or Draco could say a word, he pushed himself down, swerving a bit more from side to side than the other two had.
“Are we going to talk about it?” Draco asked from right behind her, and Hermione gasped as she whirled to look at him. His expression was open, his tone pleading. Hermione knew exactly what it was.
“There’s nothing to say,” she said, voice surprisingly even. “We already went over it all.”
Draco sighed, rubbing a rough hand down his face. “I said I was sorry, okay? But the chance of your legislation passing with the number you needed was low. Anti-werewolf sentiment is still disgustingly high.”
“You knew how much those protections mattered to me—”
“Exactly!” he interrupted. “I did! Which is why I approached other members to convince them to support the legislation. That’s what people do in politics. They shmooze and cajole and bargain.”
Hermione gritted her teeth. “But that’s not what I wanted, Draco. I wanted to do it on my own, not have my boyfriend promise a bunch of old wizards and witches favours for their support.” She could feel that her face was burning, and her hair felt like it was crackling with her anger.
“Hermione, please. I understand how you feel. I really do. But I grew up around the Ministry. I know what it’s like there. It would be great if bills passed on their own merit, but they don’t.”
She sighed, frustrated with him and with herself.
She really did understand what he was saying. She had from the moment he told her he’d lobbied on behalf of her werewolf protection act, but that hadn’t stopped her pride from being bruised. She didn’t want to be the witch whose boyfriend had to do her work for her.
After the massive row they’d had, she’d ended things, and he’d left that night. As much as she was loath to admit it, even to herself, the fact was Hermione’s impulsive Gryffindor side had taken over, and she’d wondered every day if she’d made a mistake.
“I don’t want to do this,” she whispered, turning and pushing off down the slope.
“YOU’RE RUNNING AWAY FROM ME?!”
Draco’s voice, laced with indignation and hurt, echoed in her skull the whole way down.
・❅・❅・❅・
After only two more runs—both of which had ended with him on the ground in a tangle of skis and poles and limbs—Blaise had headed inside to drink with the others, and Draco had decided to join him, leaving Hermione to spend the rest of the afternoon with Ginny and Harry.
She had fun with her two good friends and even managed to forget about her fight with Draco in the easy conversation and laughter. It was at the end of the day when the sun was starting to dip below the horizon, casting the world in a muted glow, and they were crammed together in a single chair that Harry said, “Everything alright with you and Draco?”
Hermione startled, her head whipping to her left to look at Harry sitting next to her and Ginny on his other side. Harry only looked concerned, not necessarily like he knew anything, and Ginny just looked confused by the question.
“Of course,” she responded, her voice cracking slightly. She decided that perhaps half of a truth would help. “We had a big row a little while back. We’re fine and all, but things are still a bit… tense.”
Ginny hummed sympathetically and offered to turn him back into a ferret if he hurt Hermione. Harry looked like he wanted to say more but thankfully stayed silent.
・❅・❅・❅・
27 December 2004
Hermione woke on the third morning of the trip to a heavy weight at her back and a steady breath on her neck. Still half-groggy with sleep, she burrowed into the warmth, letting out a contented sigh.
It was only when she felt something hard pressing against her bum that she jolted awake fully, a high-pitched shriek coming out of her mouth. She jumped from bed and turned to find Draco looking at her with hooded eyes and a sleepy smile.
“Sorry,” he murmured, not looking sorry at all. “Habit.”
Hermione hid in the bathroom, taking her time with a long shower. When she came back out into the bedroom, the space was mercifully empty. She headed down to the kitchen where Draco sat at the island with Harry, Theo, Blaise, and Ginny. As Hermione went to pour herself a tea, Draco came over to the station to refill his coffee mug and pecked a kiss on her head. She turned and wrapped her hands around his middle, aware of Harry’s gaze on her. After what he said on the lift yesterday evening, Hermione realised she needed to do a better job of faking her relationship with Draco; just existing in his orbit wasn’t enough. If Draco was surprised at the contact, he didn’t show it.
“What’s on the agenda today?” Hermione asked once they settled down with the rest of the group.
Theo rolled his eyes as he gestured to Ginny. “This one wants to go skiing again. Never mind that the rest of us can barely feel our arses after yesterday.”
“You spent half the day drinking in the lodge!” Ginny proclaimed. “How can you be sore?”
“Hmm, you’re right. Perhaps that particular part of my body is sore from—”
Harry slapped a hand over his fiancé’s mouth, his face a flaming scarlet. “Do not finish that thought.”
“Seriously, Theo,” Draco drawled. “Not before we’ve started drinking.”
Theo pulled Harry’s hand away, threading Harry’s fingers with his own. The tender gesture was completely at odds with the words coming out of the wavy-haired wizard’s mouth.
“Ah, so if I ply you with alcohol, you’ll let me wax poetic about all the brilliant things Harry does to make my arse sore?”
“Yes!” Ginny cried at the same time Draco and Blaise yelled, “No!”
“Merlin’s tits,” Harry mumbled.
At that moment Ron and Pansy came down the stairs, returning the conversation to the day’s plan. To Ginny’s disappointment, the general consensus was that everyone needed a break from the slopes, and the redhead finally gave in after they all promised they’d set aside at least one more day for her to tackle the toughest trail.
They decided to drive to a small wizarding inn tucked into a nearby village that had a Floo through which they could travel to Zurich. Everyone—even Ginny, despite the fact she’d only begrudgingly admit it—was interested to see the wizarding sector of the Swiss city.
To Hermione’s chagrin, once they all stepped through the Floo in BarMagie in the Gheimbezirk, the couples started pairing off with the promise to meet up in a few hours for a late lunch.
Ginny immediately dragged Blaise to the quidditch shop, Harry and Theo went to look at formal robes as they wanted ideas for their wedding, and Pansy took Ron by the hand, saying, “There’s a fabulous lingerie shop here. Excellent charms in the material that—”
Hermione turned away, not wanting to know the purpose of charmed undergarments or why exactly Ron looked like a crup with a bone at Pansy’s words.
“Want to see if we can find a bookshop?” Draco asked, an amused tilt to his lips.
Hermione couldn’t keep in her wide answering smile, and they were soon making their way through the hidden magical district, hands laced together just in case they passed any of their friends. At least, Hermione told herself that was the only reason she’d slotted her fingers in between his long, pale ones. If the thought of touching Draco still caused pixies in her stomach, that knowledge was for her, and her alone.
Draco didn’t seem to hold any bitterness for the way they’d left things yesterday on the slopes. They chatted and laughed as they perused the Enlarged shop, and Hermione only protested a little when Draco stacked a number of titles she’d been eyeing in his arms and carried them to the checkout up front.
They stopped at a small café for teas in to-go cups before they continued on, taking in the scenery. While the Gheimbezirk seemed to be about as big as Diagon Alley, it felt much newer. Diagon looked like something out of the nineteenth century with its cobblestone walks and dark brick buildings. The Swiss neighbourhood was light and airy, with the buildings made up of a mix of tan stone and white stucco. It wasn’t snowing, but the air felt like the sky could open up at any second. The cold was crisp and full of promise.
As they walked, Hermione’s gaze slid over to Draco, and her heart ached. There was colour on his high cheekbones, and his bright hair was falling carelessly across his forehead. He was beautiful.
She’d later blame the next words out of her mouth on the pink of his cheeks and the enticing pout of his mouth.
“Does it bother you?”
“Does what bother me?” he asked, his pale brow furrowed.
“Pretending that we’re still… You know.”
He stopped walking, causing the couple behind them to have to drop their hands to walk around, leaving Hermione and Draco like rocks in the river.
“Does it bother me to pretend I’m still dating you when I’m not?”
She nodded, aware that in the middle of the street was probably not the best place to have this conversation but also uncaring. Suddenly, knowing what he felt mattered more than anything else.
“It does. Of course it does. I thought we were forever. And then we weren’t.”
His words stung in their bluntness, and Hermione hated herself for feeling the sting. She had been the one to break up with him. She didn’t have a right to be hurt.
“You just—” She paused, unsure of what to say and finally settling on: “You seemed fine after it all ended. I saw you in the Ministry atrium a few days after it happened, and you looked the same.”
Draco sighed, running a hand through his hair and tousling the strands even more.
“What did you want me to do? Stalk you through the Ministry, begging you to come back?”
“I don’t know, Draco! It all felt wrong, and it felt like you didn’t fight for us. And now we’re here, and it all feels too familiar and easy, but it’s not real.”
“Salazar, Hermione, you’re so brilliant but also so blind. You ended things with me in no uncertain terms, and I respect you enough to respect your choice. But do not, for a moment, mistake my respect for indifference. I trusted that you’re an adult enough to know what you want. If you didn’t want to be with me, I wasn’t going to beg. Who breaks up with someone and then wants them to beg to get back together?”
“That’s not—”
“Do you not realise how twisted that is?”
“No, I—”
“And of course it feels real. I love you. I didn’t stop loving you.”
She was struck speechless by how easily the words rolled off his tongue, how casually he said them, as if he weren’t ripping her heart from her chest.
Draco sighed again, and the sound hurt.
“Let’s get going. We’re meeting the group back at BarMagie in a few minutes.”
He kept walking, leaving Hermione to trail behind, shame heating her face.
・❅・❅・❅・
30 December 2004
If there were a wizarding equivalent to an actor, Hermione thought Draco could go into the profession and win every award available. By the time they made it to lunch with their friends in Zurich, his demeanor was calm, easy. He talked animatedly with Ginny about quidditch, leaned in to listen to Harry and Theo talk about when and where they’d like to get married, teased Ron mercilessly about the massive bag he carried from the lingerie shop—which Pansy wouldn’t let him Shrink because she said it would mess with the delicate fabric and charms—and even whispered softly with Hermione while he draped an arm over her shoulder.
Despite the unease churning inside of her, Hermione let herself relax into the role of girlfriend, and soon the pretending became easy.
Ginny had told them all about the massive fireworks display that happened in Zurich every New Year’s Eve, which she’d heard about from a shopkeeper at the quidditch store, and so they all made plans to return to the city on the last night of their trip.
The fiery redhead wasn’t to be deterred from the slopes for too long though, and the day after the trip to Zurich saw the group returned to the mountain and once again split off, with Ron, Pansy, Theo, and Blaise spending time in the lodge and Hermione, Ginny, Harry, and Draco tackling the slopes. The day ended with Ginny attempting the toughest trail that had seen Hermione discreetly casting cushioning charms all over her friend beforehand.
Ginny had fallen three times on her way down, but she’d still crowed with delight at the bottom, causing Blaise, who’d come outside to watch, to scoop her up and twirl her about.
Even she’d admitted defeat though the following day, spending the whole morning whinging about how much her calves and hamstrings ached and demanding that Blaise allow her to ride his back up and down the stairs. Pansy had pulled out a brochure for a nearby spa, and Hermione sensed Pansy had been waiting for just the right moment to suggest the trip. The group had spent all of the day before dressed in fluffy robes and sipping infused water, a very Muggle activity that all of them had agreed the Wizarding World needed to embrace.
Hermione awoke the morning of their second to last full day with Draco’s body once again pressed up against hers, his breaths whistling slightly in his nose and tickling the back of her neck. She again allowed herself to bask in the familiarity of the moment.
She shifted to burrow in closer and felt that telling hardness against her bum where it was nestled into the tops of his thighs. Instead of pulling away this time though, Hermione let her mind wander to all the mornings they spent in bed, throwing off tangled sheets when they got too hot and lazily exploring one another’s bodies, bringing each other to release with hands and mouths before finally being joined.
Hermione tried to recall what their last time together had been like. It had been one of those soft, easy Sunday mornings when they’d had nowhere else to be. She tried to remember the whole thing in vivid detail but couldn’t, and she wished for a Pensieve. She wanted to hear the words he whispered in her ear. She wanted to feel the sweaty slide of his skin against hers. She wanted to feel her body go taut just before she came down. If she’d known it had been their last time, she would have committed every single detail to memory.
A single tear tracked down Hermione’s temple and landed on the fine white pillowcase beneath her head. She extracted herself from Draco’s grip and went into the bathroom, where she once again allowed herself to feel every moment of pain.
・❅・❅・❅・
Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Ginny took the SUV into town to pick up the ingredients they needed from the shops to make dinner. Hermione drove even though she didn’t technically have a muggle licence, but she knew she was certainly the only one in the group who had ever driven before. Her parents had let her drive just around their neighbourhood back in the summer before Sixth year.
She and Harry were in the shop collecting what they needed to make steak and kidney pie while Ron and Ginny stopped by the bakery to pick up desserts.
“Are you going to tell me when you and Draco broke up, or are you going to make me guess?”
Hermione sputtered, her head whipping to her left to look at Harry whose green gaze was casually roaming the shelves in front of them.
“We didn’t break up. We’re here on a couples’ trip.”
“Hermione,” Harry said, voice slightly exasperated despite the teasing smirk playing at his mouth. “Despite what Draco may claim, I’m not actually an idiot. I have to admit, you guys are doing a good job at hiding it. But I’m also your best friend and have seen you guys together for the last two years. I know what you’re like, and whatever you’ve got going on now is not like that.”
She sighed, admitting defeat, and proceeded to quickly explain what had transpired a month ago. As they continued down the narrow aisle, Harry let out a small chuckle. “Gods, you’re both idiots, aren’t you?”
Hermione, despite herself, grinned, feeling better now that she’d shared the secret she’d been holding in. “I daresay we are. I just… I feel stupid, honestly.”
Harry hummed. “Why is that?”
“I knew right away that I’d overreacted, but my feelings were so hurt. It was my first big legislation, and I felt like he took it away from me.”
“You know, Theo is probably the most maddening person I’ve ever met.”
Hermione blinked, confused by the odd shift. “Okay?”
“He’s obnoxious at times. It’s sometimes hard to get him to take things seriously. When he gets angry, there’s no reasoning with him. He hogs the covers. He doesn’t put his dishes in the sink. He leaves his shoes right in front of the door or the Floo, literally whatever he uses to come home. He hates Ministry functions, so I always have to bribe him to behave himself. Otherwise, he becomes a menace, making rude comments or grabbing my arse while I’m in the middle of a conversation.”
Now Hermione was laughing. Harry and Theo had been together for years, and she’d never once heard Harry share any of this.
“But gods, I wouldn’t want to spend the rest of my life being annoyed with anyone else.”
Hermione laughed and only realised she was crying when Harry wiped at her cheeks.
“Do you think you might feel the same about Draco?”
She didn’t have to think twice. She nodded. Harry pulled her into a hug and whispered in her ear. “I think there’s someone else you need to tell then.”
・❅・❅・❅・
When the Gryffindors returned to the chalet, the Slytherins were sprawled around the blazing fire, drinks in hand. Draco’s face was flushed, and he had his head thrown back in laughter at something Theo had said.
Harry’s words rattled in her head, but she decided she’d wait. When she told Draco she made a mistake and that she still loved him too, she didn’t want anything clouding either of their judgments.
・❅・❅・❅・
31 December 2004
Hermione woke up in a similar position the morning of New Year’s Eve, with Draco’s body wrapped around hers. She didn’t want to start a new year without telling him how she felt. She hated that she’d allowed her wounded pride to keep them apart for as long as she had.
Carefully, she turned over so that she was facing him. Draco was still asleep, his face soft and lips slightly parted. He was in soft joggers and a long sleeve t-shirt since they’d both agreed that they’d sleep fully clothed while on the trip. The tight loungewear still showed off his strong body, and Hermione was painfully aware of how their hips lined up in his position.
Draco’s grey eyes fluttered open and widened when he saw Hermione gazing at him.
“Hermione, what’s wrong?” he asked, his voice raspy with sleep.
“I’m sorry,” she blurted, all the lines she’d rehearsed all through dinner yesterday going out the window.
“For?”
“It all. For getting upset with you after the legislation passed. It wasn’t about you. I was so angry that we fought a war, and yet nothing had really changed at the Ministry. And I took it out on you. I saw what you did as just an extension of that old corruption. I know change takes time, and I didn’t want it to. I was so stupid, and I just ended up hurting you and myself in the process.”
Draco nodded, a fond look on his beautiful face.
“It’s okay, Hermione. I know it was never about me. If I could change the entire foundation of politics for you, you know I would. Until then, we just have to settle for the occasional scheming to get what you want.”
Despite Draco’s sweet words and easy acceptance of her speech, Hermione felt a niggling annoyance in her brain. “Why aren’t you more angry with me?”
“I’m not angry. Still hurt, I guess, maybe a bit annoyed. But I also love you more than I’m annoyed with you. And I don’t want to waste another day without you.”
Hermione heard Harry’s words from yesterday. I wouldn’t want to spend the rest of my life being annoyed with anyone else.
It seemed Harry and Draco were maybe a bit more alike than either of them would care to know.
Hermione brought her face to Draco’s, moving slowly so that he’d know what she intended and could pull away if he wasn’t ready.
Draco didn’t pull away though, and their lips met, the kiss soft and sweet, a homecoming for both of them. Hermione deepened the kiss, running her tongue lightly over Draco’s lips until he opened. That was apparently all the invitation he needed because he rolled so that Hermione was on her back with him over her, her thighs bracketing his hips. Draco ground into her as he kissed along her jaw and down her neck.
Their hands pulled at clothes until they were bare to one another, as they’d been so many times before, and yet somehow this time it felt brand new.
“I love you,” he whispered as he kissed between her thighs.
“I love you,” she murmured as she took him in her hand.
“I love you,” they sighed as he pushed into her, their foreheads pressed together and her fingers digging into his shoulders.
When Hermione’s body started to tighten, Draco brought his thumb down to the bundle above her entrance. A few firm swipes was all it took for the pressure to burst and for her to cry his name.
・❅・❅・❅・
A few hours later, eight friends grabbed the last empty table at BarMagie. The table was only made to seat six, so they crowded in close, nearly sitting on top of one another. At one point Pansy ended up on Ron’s lap, and Ginny, not to be outdone, ended up on Blaise’s. Draco pulled Hermione onto his, and Theo pulled Harry onto his. They received odd looks from other patrons, but none of them minded.
Tipsy from lunchtime ales and an unspoken promise to make the most of a last day together, they wandered into the Muggle streets of Zurich, marvelling at the light snowfall and the beauty of the Swiss city.
When Draco stopped at one point to wrap Hermione in his arms and plant a kiss on her beanie-covered head, Harry gave her a knowing grin, and she nodded back, knowing he’d understand she meant they weren’t pretending any longer.
When Ron let out a jaw-cracking yawn just as the sun went down, Pansy dragged them all into a café where they loaded up on sugary pastries and espressos.
They made their way to the shore of Lake Zurich, where fireworks would be set off from barges on the water. The shoreline was already crowded with people, and if any of her friends saw Hermione cast a discreet Muggle Repelling charm to clear a small area for them, they didn’t say a word.
When the countdown began, the couples wrapped themselves up in one another. Ron held Pansy’s back to his chest and kissed her temple. Ginny jumped on Blaise’s back, her head resting atop his. Harry nuzzled into Theo’s chest.
And Hermione and Draco stood side by side, together.
“If I’m lucky enough, I want a hundred more of these with you,” Draco said, his pale face washed in pinks and blues and yellows by the fireworks in the black sky.
“I think we can make that work,” Hermione responded, and she kissed the love of her life for everyone to see.
Art by ghoulsed