Hermione was waiting for Ginny in Diagon Alley.
They had decided to go to Fortescue and have an ice cream. Since she had arrived half an hour earlier, Hermione decided to stop by the bookshop on her way to the confectionery.
She strolled down the aisles, picking a book, then decided to go down to Fortescue and wait for Ginny there. The weather was still nice, so she picked a table outside, ordered a cup of green tea and looked around, waiting for her friend to arrive
Ten minutes later, Ginny came running, face flushed and arms filled with wrapped packages.
"I'm so sorry! I had to pick up a few things and it took longer than expected." Ginny whined, slumping into the chair across from Hermione, shuffling the packages while placing them on a chair next to her.
"It's alright. I arrived early and stopped by the bookshop." Hermione said good-naturedly.
"Of course you did." Ginny teased.
"And what have you been buying?" Hermione asked, ignoring Ginny's last remark.
"Can't you guess?" Ginny asked with an amused look on her face.
"Quidditch stuff, right?"
"Right you are. Harry and I decided to renew our broom maintenance kit and..."
"You were the one who drew the short straw."
"Right you are again." Ginny sighed. "But I wanted to get Harry something anyway, therefore it was better he wasn't around."
A young man came to take their order.
The ice cream shop was now owned and run by the previous owner's son, old Fortescue having died in the war. It seemed the business thrived and the new businessman had quite a success with his new addition in the menu, like fiery mint ice cream that almost made you breathe fire or the Murano ice cream that sparkled in the sunlight like the colorful Murano glass.
Hermione and Ginny decided to order different ice creams and ended up sharing them, discussing what each has been doing since the last time they had talked.
"How are you managing?" Ginny asked Hermione after finishing the ice cream Hermione had pushed in front of her.
"I'm holding up." Hermione said evasively.
Hermione sipped from her tea, knowing very well that Ginny won't be satisfied with that answer. She had expected a thorough interrogation, especially after she wrote to her friend, explaining the situation she was in. Harry hadn't told Ginny, letting Hermione do it herself.
Sure enough, a few moments later, having finished all the ice cream, Ginny leaned back on her chair and squinted at Hermione.
"How's Malfoy?"
"Insufferable." Hermione replied, rolling her eyes.
"Come off it! I'm not buying it, you know." Ginny said grinning at her friend.
"Ginny..."
"You used to say the same thing about Ron. 'Oh he's so annoying and thick headed and insufferable' and Merlin knows just how many other names you called him. But even so, you used to like him. So?" Ginny asked with intent curiosity.
"So what?"
"So do you like him? Malfoy, I mean."
Hermione goggled at Ginny, too perplexed to reply.
"That's preposterous! Of course I don't!" Hermione exclaimed breathlessly.
"Hermione." Ginny interjected. "I'm not Ron or Harry for that matter. I'm your best friend and you can be honest with me. What are your feelings towards the guy? You must feel something to be willing to go to such lengths in order to help him. You even agreed to move in with him."
Hermione pondered for a moment.
Ginny was indeed her best friend and she knew she could trust her, but the truth was, Hermione herself didn't know what exactly she was feeling, other than what she'd told Harry when she decided to accept Narcissa's offer, of course.
She never thought of the extent of what she felt about the situation or the person it involved. Now was as good a time as any to dig a little deeper into her own feelings.
"I don't hate him." Hermione replied slowly, brow furrowed.
"Well that's a start." Ginny grinned, nodding approvingly.
"If I think about it, I've never hated him half as much as Harry and Ron did. If anything, I think I pitied him."
"Why would you pity a prat like Malfoy?" Ginny snorted. "He led a good life back at Hogwarts."
"Anyone can become a prat if they were raised in the same environment Malfoy had been raised in. And I don't know about 'leading the good life'. " Hermione said, sighing. "He was so consumed with petty things that I doubt he actually enjoyed his time there."
"I'm guessing he did." Ginny said pensively. "Just not the way we did."
She stopped to think, then continued with her previous trail of thought.
"So I take it you don't hate him but you don't like him either?"
"I guess..." Hermione replied shifting uncomfortably in her seat.
"Hm... then it's a 'not love, not hate' kind of relationship." Ginny mused, tapping her chin with a finger.
They both remained silent for a few moments, each lost in thought. Then Hermione suddenly broke the silence.
"I had a nightmare a couple of nights ago. It was a rather bad one."
Ginny looked worried but kept quiet, waiting for Hermione to continue.
"We were in the Department of Mysteries; we were fighting and I... fell. Then the scene changed to the Battle of Hogwarts, the horrors and the deaths...", she let out a shuddered breath before continuing, "then it ended with what happened at Malfoy Manor... It always ends there", Hermione finished in a quiet whisper, unconsciously grasping her arm where the 'mudblood' scar was.
"Hermione..." Ginny called her softly, reaching an arm and touching her friend gently on her hand.
That seemed to snap Hermione out of her dark and painful thoughts.
"Malfoy woke me." she said, looking Ginny in the eye.
"What? Are you serious?"