Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hermione sighed, wondering for the umpteenth time why she had agreed to come. She glanced over at Harry to see if he was as miserable as she was, and decided from his expression that he was regretting coming as much as she was.

She leaned over and asked, “How much longer is this stupid freak show going to go on for?”

“Mione, we haven’t even started speeches yet,” Harry said.

She rolled her eyes. “I can’t wait to see which ‘close friends’ Lavender and Ron chose to speak.”

Just then Ron walked over, “Hey, Hermione, can we talk to you for a minute? Alone?”

She glanced meaningfully at Harry before reluctantly standing up and following Ron. “What was it you needed to talk to me about Ronald?”

“So, me and Lav were wondering if you could do a speech. Parvati refused at the last minute. Something about losing her voice?” Ron explained. 

I stared at him in disbelief. “Are you for real right now?”

“C’mon. Do it for our good years, kay? Please?”

“Can I have a minute? If you want me to speak, I’ll need to prepare something.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, would ten minutes work?”

“Great, great,” Hermione muttered as she wandered out into the hall and slumped against the wall, regretting every decision she had made that brought her here.

“What in the world are you doing?” A deep voice asked from her right. Hermione’s eyes immediately popped open and she spun around to see Draco Malfoy standing next to her, holding a glass of some sort of alcohol.

“Geez, Malfoy, you scared me.”

“Sorry, but seriously, why are you sitting on the floor in the hallway?”

“Um, well, Ron just asked me to give a speech-”

Draco cut her off by cracking up. “Ron, the guy who broke up with you to get back together with his ex from sixth year, asked you to give a speech at his WEDDING?! ”

“Yeah, I know. It sounds stupid, but I may have accepted. And now I’m questioning everything in my life. And wondering what I’m supposed to do.”

“One, I feel like you’re supposed to be smarter than this. Two, you could-”

“Wait, why are you here, Malfoy?”

“I got an invitation? Duh. Something about, ‘we all survived the war. Class unity. Blah, blah, blah. I really just came for the free alcohol,” he explained, raising his glass.

“That… honestly makes a lot of sense. Ron and Lavender are stupid enough to have an open bar. Maybe I should just drink a crap ton of alcohol and then say something stupid.”

“Or you could go up there completely sober and treat your speech like an epic diss track.”

Hermione stared at him in shock and he shrugged. “So far this wedding has been kind of boring. I want someone to spice things up.”

“You know Malfoy, that isn’t actually a horrible idea,” Hermione said, standing slowly, an idea forming in her mind. “This should be interesting.”

Draco smirked. “We’ll see if you can create some proper chaos. It’s going to take some guts, especially since all the Weasleys are here. I really expected some of them to create some chaos, but they disappointed me.”

“Honestly, me too. I expected at least George to cause some chaos.”

“First of all, which one is that? Second, aren’t you stalling?”

“Shut up, Malfoy,” Hermione said with a grin. “I’m gonna provide your entertainment. You should be nicer.”

“Whatever Granger, you’re taking too long.”

Hermione rolled her eyes and then stepped back into the room. She looked around for Ron and then walked over to him, pasting a polite smile on her face. “Ron, I would love to make a speech for you guys.”

“Thank you so much Mione. It means so much to my little Won-Won that you’ll speak at our wedding,” Lavender gushed, standing at his side as Hermione grimaced internally.

“Yeah, thanks a ton. You’re a real lifesaver.”

Hermione let the smile drop as soon as she turned around. She made eye contact with Draco who raised an eyebrow in response as if saying ‘get on with it’. She made her way to the mic stand and looked out at the gathering of people. She saw Harry who was looking at her in confusion and offered him a small smile.

“Hello everyone,” she began. “I know this is sort of last minute, but when Parvati said she couldn’t make a speech, Ron asked me to step up. I’m not really great at coming up with speeches in ten minutes, but I can sing so I decided to find a song. This one is for you.”

As the opening chords for the song started playing, Hermione closed her eyes and mentally prepared herself for what she was about to do. She took a deep breath, grabbed the mic off the stand, and opened her eyes. She turned to face Ron and sang,

“ I, I hope she makes you smile. The way it made me smile on the other end of a phone in the middle of a highway driving alone. Oh baby I, I hope you hear a song that makes you sing along and gets you thinking ‘bout her. Then the last several miles turn into a blur, yeah.”

She glanced around to see the guests smiling, except Draco who was looking at her with disappointment. 

“I hope you both feel the sparks by the end of the drive. I hope you know she’s the one by the end of the night. I hope you never ever felt more free. Tell your friends that you’re so happy. I hope she comes along and wrecks every one of your plans. I hope you spend your last dime to put a rock on her hand. I hope she’s wilder than your wildest dreams, she’s everything you’re ever gonna need. And then I hope she cheats, like you did on me! And then I hope she cheats, like you did on me!”

Hermione glanced at Draco again, who was now smirking and flashed her a thumbs up. The rest of the guests were staring in horror, jaws dropped.

“Yeah babe, I hope she shows up in a 2AM pic from her friend. Hanging on to a guy, and you just ain’t him. I hope you stay up all night all alone waiting by the phone and then she calls. And baby I, I hope you work it out. Forgive and just about forget and take her on a first date again. And when you lean in for a kiss.”

The guests seemed to be relaxing as the second verse came to a close, but Hermione smiled, knowing where the song would lead and how everyone would know the truth.

“I hope you both feel the sparks by the end of the drive. I hope you know she’s the one by the end of the night. I hope you never ever felt more free. Tell your friends that you’re so happy. I hope she comes along and wrecks every one of your plans. I hope you spend your last dime to put a rock on her hand. I hope she’s wilder than your wildest dreams, she’s everything you’re ever gonna need. And then I hope she cheats, like you did on me! And then I hope she cheats, like you did on me!”

Hermione closed her eyes to better focus on pouring all the hurt she had gone through with Ron into the lyrics.

“I hope what goes, comes all the way around. I hope she makes you feel the same way about her that I feel about you right now. I hope you both feel the sparks by the end of the drive. I hope you know she’s the one by the end of the night. I hope you never ever felt more free. Tell your friends that you’re so happy. I hope she comes along and wrecks every one of your plans. I hope you spend your last dime to put a rock on her hand. I hope she’s wilder than your wildest dreams, she’s everything you’re ever gonna need. And then I hope she cheats, like you did on me! And then I hope she cheats, like you did on me! Like you did on me.”

Hermione slowly opened her eyes to see the guests staring at her in disbelief. She looked toward the back of the room to see Draco cracking up. She took a bow and dropped the mic onto the floor while Draco mimed applause. All of a sudden Ron exploded, “What the hell was that, Hermione?”

At the same time Lavender screamed, “That’s a lie! My Won-Won would never cheat!”

Hermione just laughed as she ran off the stage. “Think whatever you want! I’m outta here!”

She grabbed Draco’s hand and dragged him out of the room still laughing. “Let’s go party somewhere else. Celebrate being stupid for one night.”

“You got a place in mind?”

“Yeah, come on.”

Once they arrived at the bar, Draco rolled his eyes. “Are you serious, Granger? A Muggle bar?”

“Yeah, I’m trying to forget about anything magical right now. Besides, all the non-Muggle bars around here have too many negative memories attached.”

“Okay, but what can you even drink here?”

“You’ll see,” Hermione replied with a laugh as she pulled him into the bar.

Hermione went up the bar and ordered while Draco hung back in confusion. She returned and handed him a can. “It’s not as bad as you think it will be, kay?”

He tried it. “As much as I wish I could disagree with you Granger, I can’t. Regretfully.”

Hermione rolled her eyes and playfully slapped him. “Shut up Malfoy. I paid.”

The song changed and Hermione immediately perked up. “I love this song!”

Draco watched in confusion as she began to sing along to the song coming over the speakers. When it got to the bridge she belted out, “And I can see you years from now in a bar, taking over a football game with that same big loud opinion but nobody’s listening. Washed up and ranting about the same old bitter things. Drunk and grumbling on about how I can’t sing. But all you are is mean. All you are is mean. And a liar, and pathetic, and alone in life. And mean, and mean, and mean, and mean. But someday, I’ll be living in a big old city and all you’re ever gonna be is mean, yeah. Someday, I’ll be big enough so you can’t hit me and all you’re ever gonna be is mean.”

“Dang, Granger, you’ve got pipes.”

Hermione blushed slightly and replied, “Thanks, you couldn’t figure that out when I was dissing Ron though?”

“Nah, I was more focused on everyone else’s reactions.”

“Was it entertaining enough for you?”

“Oh, for sure. Especially the end when everyone was too shocked to even compute what you were doing.”

“Oh, yeah that was great. I’m probably going to regret ever doing that tomorrow, but the consequences can wait. Tonight is for fun and impulsive decisions!”

“On a different note, this Muggle music is weirdly good.”

“Of course it’s good. Respect the Taylor.”

“What?”

“Taylor Swift is a queen and should be respected as much.”

“I’m still confused.”

“I would show you, but I don’t have my phone on me, so I can’t show you.”

“What.”

“You know what, I am feeling stupid and impulsive. My phone is at my flat, we can go back there and I can introduce you to the magic that is Taylor Eras.”

“Did you just… invite me to your house ?”

“Yep, you have no choice now, you’re coming with me!”

Hermione dragged Draco back to her flat and they spent the rest of the night listening to as many Taylor Swift albums as they could.

After about 9 hours and six albums, Hermione’s vocal chords were shot. She whispered, “Hope you enjoyed that. There’s technically still six albums if you count TTPD as two different albums.”

“How busy is this girl?”

“That’s not even counting the Taylor’s Versions.”

Draco looked slightly traumatized, and Hermione laughed internally. “Okay, time to regret my life decisions. Later, Malfoy.”

“I intend to bother you later, Granger. Don’t be surprised.”

“Let me get my sleep, Malfoy,” Hermione said with a smile as she pushed him out the door.

“Bye, Granger,” Draco said, eyes softening. He pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek and then left. Hermione stared after him in shock. As she closed the door a small smile grew on her face.

Maybe spending more time with Draco wouldn’t be the worst thing…

Chapter Text

Draco stood in the back, holding a glass of some sort of alcohol. He hadn't really been paying attention when he grabbed one from the open bar. He leaned against the wall as he wondered when the speeches were going to start. He sighed and decided to step into the hall to get away from all the glares the guests were directing at him. It had been years since the war ended and people really needed to stop acting like he was going to murder their families. He just wanted to put it all behind him.

He glanced around the hall and his eyes landed on the small frame of Hermione Granger sitting on the floor with her eyes closed. "What in the world are you doing?"

She jumped slightly and spun around to face him. "Geez, Malfoy, you scared me."

"Sorry, but seriously," Draco said, feeling slightly guilty. She didn't look very happy, and he was fairly sure people were supposed to be happy at weddings. "why are you sitting on the floor in the hallway?"

She hesitated slightly before saying, "Um, well, Ron just asked me to give a speech-"

Draco cracked up, realizing why Hermione was hiding in the hall and in between laughs said, "Ron, the guy who broke up with you to get back together with his ex from sixth year, asked you to give a speech at his WEDDING?!"

Hermione flushed slightly and said, "Yeah, I know. It sounds stupid, but I may have accepted. And now I'm questioning everything in my life. And wondering what I'm supposed to do."

"One, I feel like you're supposed to be smarter than this. Two, you could-"

"Wait, why are you here, Malfoy?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "I got an invitation? Duh. Something about, 'we all survived the war. Class unity. Blah, blah, blah. I really just came for the free alcohol." He raised his glass in explanation.

“That… honestly makes a lot of sense. Ron and Lavender are stupid enough to have an open bar. Maybe I should just drink a crap ton of alcohol and then say something stupid.”

“Or you could go up there completely sober and treat your speech like an epic diss track.”

She stared at him in shock and he shrugged. “So far this wedding has been kind of boring. I want someone to spice things up.”

“You know Malfoy, that isn’t actually a horrible idea,” Hermione said, standing slowly. “This should be interesting.”

Draco smirked. “We’ll see if you can create some proper chaos. It’s going to take some guts, especially since all the Weasleys are here. I really expected some of them to create some chaos, but they disappointed me.”

“Honestly, me too. I expected at least George to cause some chaos.”

“First of all, which one is that? Second, aren’t you stalling?”

“Shut up, Malfoy,” Hermione said with a grin. “I’m gonna provide your entertainment. You should be nicer.”

"Whatever Granger, you're taking too long."

Hermione rolled her eyes and then stepped back into the room. Draco followed and watched as she spoke to Ron and Lavender before walking over to the mic stand on the makeshift stage. She made eye contact with him and he raised an eyebrow as if telling her to 'hurry it up'. He watched as she offered a small smile to someone in the crowd and looked around until he figured out it was Potter.

“Hello everyone,” she began. “I know this is sort of last minute, but when Parvati said she couldn’t make a speech, Ron asked me to step up. I’m not really great at coming up with speeches in ten minutes, but I can sing so I decided to find a song. This one is for you.” She made eye contact with Draco again before closing her eyes again. She then turned to face Ron and sang,

“ I, I hope she makes you smile. The way it made me smile on the other end of a phone in the middle of a highway driving alone. Oh baby I, I hope you hear a song that makes you sing along and gets you thinking ‘bout her. Then the last several miles turn into a blur, yeah.”

Draco's eyebrows shot down in disappointment. He was expecting something that would make people mad, not... smiley.

“I hope you both feel the sparks by the end of the drive. I hope you know she’s the one by the end of the night. I hope you never ever felt more free. Tell your friends that you’re so happy. I hope she comes along and wrecks every one of your plans. I hope you spend your last dime to put a rock on her hand. I hope she’s wilder than your wildest dreams, she’s everything you’re ever gonna need. And then I hope she cheats, like you did on me. And then I hope she cheats, like you did on me.”

He noticed Hermione looking at him, so he flashed her a thumbs up as he felt his lips slide into a smirk.

“Yeah babe, I hope she shows up in a 2AM pic from her friend. Hanging on to a guy, and you just ain’t him. I hope you stay up all night all alone waiting by the phone and then she calls. And baby I, I hope you work it out. Forgive and just about forget and take her on a first date again. And when you lean in for a kiss.”

Draco noticed the guests relaxing, as if they didn't know how a song worked. He wondered not for the first time how dumb his classmates actually were.

“I hope you both feel the sparks by the end of the drive. I hope you know she’s the one by the end of the night. I hope you never ever felt more free. Tell your friends that you’re so happy. I hope she comes along and wrecks every one of your plans. I hope you spend your last dime to put a rock on her hand. I hope she’s wilder than your wildest dreams, she’s everything you’re ever gonna need. And then I hope she cheats, like you did on me. And then I hope she cheats, like you did on me.”

Draco watched as Hermione closed her eyes again and poured even more emotion into the lyrics.

“I hope what goes, comes all the way around. I hope she makes you feel the same way about her that I feel about you right now. I hope you both feel the sparks by the end of the drive. I hope you know she’s the one by the end of the night. I hope you never ever felt more free. Tell your friends that you’re so happy. I hope she comes along and wrecks every one of your plans. I hope you spend your last dime to put a rock on her hand. I hope she’s wilder than your wildest dreams, she’s everything you’re ever gonna need. And then I hope she cheats, like you did on me. And then I hope she cheats, like you did on me. Like you did on me.”

Draco saw Hermione slowly open her eyes again, but was too focused on the reactions of the rest of the guests. He started cracking up, because he thought that the breakup was public knowledge and that everyone knew. What the heck did they expect her to sing about? As Hermione took a bow and dropped the mic onto the floor, Draco mimed applause and slightly smiled at her.

All of a sudden the bride and groom exploded in anger toward Hermione who just laughed as she ran off the stage and said, "Think whatever you want! I'm outta here!"

Suddenly, she was next to Draco and dragging him out of the room. As they burst through the doors that led out to the street she said, "Let's go party somewhere else. Celebrate being stupid for one night."

"You got a place in mind?"

"Yeah, come on"

Once they arrived in front of the bar, Draco rolled his eyes, "Are you serious, Granger? A Muggle bar?"

"Yeah, I'm trying to forget about anything magical right now. Besides, all the non-Muggle bars around here have too many negative memories attached."

Draco's eyes softened and he said, "Okay, but what can you even drink here?"

"You'll see," Hermione replied with a laugh as she pulled him into the bar.

Draco stood awkwardly while Hermione went up to the bar and ordered something and then handed the bartender a strange rectangle. When she got back she handed him a can and said, "It's not as bad as you think it will be, kay?"

Draco slowly sipped at it. "As much as I wish I could disagree with you Granger, I can't. Regretfully."

She rolled her eyes and playfully slapped him. "Shut up Malfoy. I paid." He wondered how the little rectangle had paid, but decided that it wasn't too important.

Hermione suddenly perked up and exclaimed, "I love this song!"

Draco watched in slight confusion as she began to sing along to the song. When it got to the bridge she belted out,

“And I can see you years from now in a bar, taking over a football game with that same big loud opinion but nobody’s listening. Washed up and ranting about the same old bitter things. Drunk and grumbling on about how I can’t sing. But all you are is mean. All you are is mean. And a liar, and pathetic, and alone in life. And mean, and mean, and mean, and mean. But someday, I’ll be living in a big old city and all you’re ever gonna be is mean, yeah. Someday, I’ll be big enough so you can’t hit me and all you’re ever gonna be is mean.”

“Dang, Granger, you’ve got pipes.” 

Hermione blushed slightly and replied, "Thanks, but you couldn't figure that out when I was dissing Ron though?"

"Nah, I was more focused on everyone else's reactions," Draco explained, which was only slightly a lie.

"Was it entertaining enough for you?"

"Oh, for sure. Especially the end when everyone was too shocked to even compute what you were doing."

"Oh, yeah that was great. I'm probably going to regret ever doing that tomorrow, but the consequences can wait. Tonight is for fun and impulsive decisions!"

“On a different note, this Muggle music is weirdly good.”

“Of course it’s good. Respect the Taylor.”

“What?”

“Taylor Swift is a queen and should be respected as much.”

“I’m still confused.”

“I would show you, but I don’t have my phone on me, so I can’t show you.”

“What.” Nothing coming out of Hermione's mouth was making much sense. Taylor Swift? Phone? Maybe it was the weird Muggle alcohol messing with his head.

“You know what, I am feeling stupid and impulsive. My phone is at my flat, we can go back there and I can introduce you to the magic that is Taylor Eras.”

“Did you just… invite me to your house ?” The Muggle alcohol must really be messing with him, since there was no way she just did that.

“Yep, you have no choice now, you’re coming with me!”

Hermione dragged Draco back to her flat, which was much smaller than what he had imagined. He was fairly sure that after being a member of the Golden Trio and becoming ridiculously famous she was rich, but maybe she wanted a smaller house? Nothing really had made sense yet that night, so he decided to just go with it. They spent the rest of the night listening to as many Taylor Swift albums as they could.

Or more accurately, Draco listened, while Hermione sang along to every word.

After around 9 hours and six albums, Hermione's vocal chords were shot. She whispered in a raspy voice, "Hope you enjoyed that. There's technically still six albums in you count The Tortured Poets Department as two different albums."

"How busy is this girl?"

"That's not even counting the Taylor's Versions."

Draco stared at her in shock and Hermione smiled back. "Okay, time to regret my life decisions. Later, Malfoy."

"I intend to bother you later, Granger. Don't be surprised." He was truly too interested to hear the rest of those albums and spend more time with Hermione.

"Let me get my sleep, Malfoy," Hermione said with a smile as she pushed him out the door.

"Bye, Granger," Draco said. He decided that he would forget the consequences for one night as well and gently pressed a kiss to her cheek before quickly leaving. He could feel Hermione staring after him and hoped that she wasn't upset.

But even if she was, she was the one who invited him to her house, so it was her fault. A smile spread across his face. As she said, "the consequences can wait."

The consequences would definitely have to wait until they both got sleep and weren't exhausted and possibly being messed with by Muggle alcohol.

But spending more time with Hermione wouldn't be the worst thing...