This fic is rated M for language and possible adult activities (most likely, not until the epilogue, if there is one).

I've yet to set a Dramione fic in the States, so here's hoping it goes alright! As always, I am beta-less, therefore, all mistakes are my own. In addition, JK Rowling is my queen. I'm not claiming any of her characters as my own, but I am borrowing them for a while. Hope you enjoy this multi-chaptered fic! If you do, leave me a review!

It was late on a Thursday night and Hermione was folding laundry. Ron was out with Harry, and her other friends - who had become numerous over the last couple of years - were out and about. As she folded a particularly old pair of Gryffindor sweats, her phone buzzed in her pocket, causing her heart rate to spike. She rarely used her phone, as she didn't have any Muggle friends, but whenever it buzzed, she made sure to answer.

After the war, things in the wizarding world were rebuilt fairly quickly, but the children who'd fought in it - on both sides - were slower to recover. So, Hermione, always on the lookout for some group of people to fight for, started a support group. War Impaired Child Soldiers - or WICS. She'd expected it to only be a few people, and it was at first, but over the last four years, since the war, it had grown. Now, on any given week, there were at least 10 people who showed up - mostly her closest friends - and sometimes as many as 20!

Everyone in the group having a cell phone was something Harry thought of. Owls were well and good, as were floos and patronuses, but sometimes you just needed instant access. So, all members of WICS got a cell phone, and they knew only to use them if they needed support from a fellow support member.

So, when Hermione's phone buzzed, she assumed it was one of the other members needing support after being triggered by something. It happened less often now than it had, but it wasn't so uncommon that it shocked her in any way. She took a deep, calming breath as she fished it from her pocket.

She looked at the screen and was met with a photo of a smirking Pansy Parkinson. That was a little unexpected, but it wasn't the first time she'd called. Pansy joining their group had been shocking when it first happened, but over the last few years, she'd become someone Hermione thought of as a really good friend.

"Hello? Pansy, is everything all right?" Hermione asked as she stood, leaving her unfolded clothes in the hamper.

"Hermione. Can I come over?" Pansy's voice was quiet, but she didn't sound upset. If anything, she sounded nervous.

"Of course," Hermione said, brows wrinkled. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine, just - " the phone was muffled for a moment, but Hermione thought she heard her tell someone to shut up. "I'm fine. I just need to come over. Can I apparate there?"

"Yeah, sure." Hermione felt a weird twinge in her stomach. She stepped back from the middle of the floor to give Pansy plenty of room to pop in. The line went dead and a moment later, after a loud crack, Pansy stood in the middle of the living room, a scowl on her pale, pretty face.

Hermione crossed the distance toward her and took her hand, pulling her toward the couch. She scooted the hamper over with her foot and took both of Pansy's hands, but the dark haired girl still scowled at her, then looked away.

"What's happened, Pansy?" Hermione asked, squeezing her fingers.

Pansy gritted her teeth, then met Hermione's eyes again. The hard look she shared with the world softened as she flipped her hands so that she was holding Hermione's, rather than the other way around. She squeezed Hermione's fingers and took a deep breath.

"If something bad were happening to me, behind my back, would you tell me?" she asked, her normally loud voice soft.

"What?" Hermione asked, her heart inexplicably racing.

Pansy sighed, and adjusted her grip on Hermione's hands. "If there was something going on, something that would hurt me, and you knew, but I didn't, would telling me be the right thing to do? Even though it would hurt me? And even though you would hate to be the one to have to tell me?" Pansy's dark green eyes bored into Hermione's in a way that once would have been intimidating.

"Yes," Hermione breathed. "Pansy, you're frightening me. What's going on?"

Pansy closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them, her dark green orbs were misty. "Hermione, where's Ron tonight?" she asked, her voice a whisper.

"He's with Harry - "

"He's not," Pansy cut in, scooting closer. "I'm so sorry, Hermione. I don't want to tell you this. But - " Pansy's hands were shaking. "I was out on a date tonight. Anthony Goldstein, from our year at Hogwarts, took me out for drinks and dancing. And I saw - " shockingly, a single tear rolled down Pansy's cheek. "I saw Ron out with another girl."

"Saw him with - but he's with Harry tonight and - what you do mean, saw him with a girl?" Even to her own ears, Hermione's voice sounded weak and confused - two states of being she did not enjoying being in.

"At the bar, I saw him with his arm around a girl I didn't recognize. They were drinking, and laughing, and - " she closed her eyes even as she squeezed Hermione's fingers. "He kissed her," she whispered.

"He kissed her," Hermione repeated, the room spinning as black edges encroached on her vision. "Ron kissed a girl. At a bar. Where you were on a date with Anthony."

"Hermione, look at me."

Hermione's head jerked back toward Pansy. When had she looked away?

"I didn't want to tell you, but if it were me, I would have wanted to know." Another tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm so sorry."

Hermione stared at her for a long moment, and like a rubber band being snapped, the black edges of her vision cleared and she was back. Her heart was racing. Pansy's hands in hers were hot and felt sticky, but she didn't pull away.

"What do you need?" Pansy asked, seeing the change in her friend's eyes. "What can I do? Tell me what to do."

"Will you - " Hermione stood, pulling her phone from her pocket with shaking hands. "Will you go get Harry? Bring him here? I'm going to ask Ron over to talk. Confront him, and - " she looked at Pansy with wide eyes. "I can't do it alone."

Pansy nodded, her chin length black hair wobbling with the motion. "I'll get him now," she said, a determined look in her eyes.

"But, wait," Hermione put her hand on Pansy's arm, tears starting to slip silently down her cheeks.. "Your date. With Anthony. I'm so sorry. You don't have to - "

"Not another word, Granger," she said, smirking in a way that reminded Hermione of Draco. "If Goldstein is so enamored with me, he'll ask me out again. Family is more important." Family. Since the start of the support group, that's what they'd become, but hearing Pansy say it, of all people, shattered something inside Hermione.

She threw herself at Pansy, wrapping her in a fierce hug. Pansy, not one for large displays of affection, hugged her back with equal fervor. This alone was enough to squash any small amount of doubt Hermione may have had about what Pansy was saying. Ron was cheating on her. Pansy had come to tell her, because she deserved to know. The world had been turned completely on its head.

"I'll be back with Harry as soon as I can get him." And with a crack, she was gone.

Hermione, in the newly quiet room, took a shaky breath.

Ron was cheating on her. Ron, the boy she'd loved since she was thirteen, was cheating on her. The boy she lived with, the boy she'd given all of herself to, the boy she'd taken care of, even in the worst of his substance abuse after the war, was cheating on her. Out in public. At this very moment.

Hermione lifted her phone, unlocking it with her thumb, and went to her Favorites. Ron was first on the list, and with fingers that trembled violently she clicked his name, which was surrounded by red hearts, and brought the phone to her ear. It rang three times before he answered, laughter loud on the other end.

"Hello?" His voice was slurred. He'd been drinking, at the very least. She thought she heard a woman laugh and her free hand balled into a fist.

"Ron. Where are you?"

"What? Oh, er, at the bar. With 'Arry." The phone shifted against fabric as he moved. "I'll be home in a while." More laughter. More muffled words.

"I need you to come home now." She felt tears well in her eyes as she squeezed her fist so hard her nails cut into her palm.

Ron sighed, irritated. "I'm out with friends, 'Mione." His voice was slurred more than usual. She squeezed her eyes shut as she realized he was using. It had been weeks since she knew for sure he'd taken any potions, and the knowledge that he was out using them again made all of this so much worse. "I'll be home later."

"Ron," she said quietly as a single tear dripped down her cheek, her eyes tightly shut. There was a crack of apparation - Pansy and Harry - but she kept her eyes closed tight. "Is there something - something you need to tell me?" She hated how weak her voice sounded.

On the other end of the line, there was a long pause. He sighed loudly into the phone and laughed without humor, a cold sound that she'd only ever heard when she lectured him on potion usage after finding a secret stash. "How'd you find out?" he asked, his voice low. "That bitch Parkinson tattle on me?"

"So it's true?" she asked as her hands started to shake. "You're with someone else?" Her voice was barely a whisper, but she knew he heard.

"Bloody hell. I can't do this right now. I'll be home later, and we can talk then."

He hung up without another word and Hermione's phone dropped from her hand to the ground. She opened her eyes, vision blurred by tears, and stared at the ground in front of her. It felt like her bones might vibrate from her body she was trembling so much.

"Hermione?" Two large, warm hands gripped her shoulders. She spun and fell into the chest of the person behind her. Harry had brought Draco, she would recognize his cologne anywhere. He enveloped her in a hug, his chest firm, his arms tight - but not too tight. She didn't sob, she was too in shock, but tears poured from her eyes like a faucet turned on too high as she clung to his shirt, letting his arms cage her in and hold her together as her world crumbled all around her.

"I'm going to kill him," Harry gritted out from somewhere behind Draco. "I'm going to fucking kill him."

"I can take you to him," Pansy said, her voice cold. "Draco, do you have her?"

"I have her," he said, his deep voice vibrating in his chest where she was pressed, trying to control her breathing and failing.

There were two cracks, and the room grew quiet.

"Granger," he said, his voice quiet now. Soft. "Let's sit. OK?" He shifted so that his arm was around her shoulders and guided her to the couch, her phone forgotten somewhere on the floor. "Come on."

He sat and pulled her with him, pulling her into his chest, his arm around her shoulder. Tears still flowed from her eyes, but she felt strangely calm as she leaned against him, her cheek flush against his chest. She took deep breaths and let the smell of his cologne calm her.

"He's cheating on me," Hermione said as her fingers gripped the fabric of his tee shirt. "Ron. Ron's cheating on me." Saying it out loud was strange. The words were true, she knew, but they felt like lies. Like some awful story.

"What did he say?" Draco asked gruffly, his hand a steady weight on her shoulder. He was surprisingly calm. He was usually the first to fly off the handle.

"He said - " fresh tears filled her eyes. She turned to him, and he met her eyes with such softness she felt a small sob well up. "He said, how'd you find out?" She sobbed once. "He laughed at me."

Draco's hand on her shoulder tightened and his soft expression grew hard.

"What am I supposed to do?" she croaked out as her face crumpled.

Draco's anger vanished as he turned and pulled her back into his chest, letting her cry and shake against him. His hands on her back were stationary, and he didn't say anything, but his hug was like a sponge for sadness, and after a few moments she calmed a little.

She'd just pulled away, still leaning into one of his shoulders, when Harry and Pansy apparated back into the room. One look at Hermione's tear-stained face and Draco's frown had Harry balling his fists.

"I'm going to hit him again," he growled, but Pansy grabbed his arm and shook her head, her silky straight hair swinging around her face.

"You hit him?" Hermione squeaked out. She felt Draco's hand spasm on her shoulder as if wanting to hold her closely again.

Harry faced her, a sheepish look on his face. Pansy still gripping his arm, and nodded. In the moment, Hermione was struck by how similar Pansy and Harry looked - both with raven black hair and bold, green eyes. They looked nice together.

There was a beat of silence. Draco's fingers tightened on her arm. And then, she laughed. It was a single bark of laughter, and she immediately covered her mouth with both hands, but it was enough.

"In the face?" she asked through a teary, manic smile. When he nodded she covered her mouth fully and laughed into her hands.

Harry looked confused, but Draco and Pansy both relaxed. Draco's fingers on her arm loosened, but he didn't pull his arm away. She was glad he didn't. She was laughing, but she was also on a precipice and he was the only thing currently anchoring her where she was.

"Well done, Potter," Draco said with a nod.

"I hope it's alright, but I told little Ronniekins he couldn't stay here tonight," Pansy said, hands on her hips. "He seemed angry 'til Potter slugged him. Then he just seemed out of it." Hermione's laughter had calmed, and her smile had fallen, and she nodded. "But I'm going to stay with you, OK? Make sure he doesn't try to sneak in."

Hermione nodded, feeling a fresh wave of sadness. As if sensing it, Draco's fingers twitched against her shoulder. "You should come with us to the States," he said as he sat up. "You weren't going to come, because of him, right?" He didn't wait for her to answer. "Now you don't have to worry about that. Come on, everyone else is going."

"I can't." Hermione looked up at him with a wince. "You all bought your tickets weeks ago, I'm sure they're sold out, and I haven't the money, regardless. I didn't save for it once I realized he wasn't interested in going."

"We can get you an international portkey," Pansy offered, brightening. Most of the members of WICS were going on a beach vacation to the States - traveling the Muggle way to make it more of an adventure for those of them who'd been raising solely in the wizarding world - and they'd all been disappointed that Hermione, and to a lesser extent, Ron, weren't going with them.

"Definitely not," Hermione said, just the thought of such a long, twisting journey making her feel ill. Draco's expression darkened and she patted his knee in consolation.

"I'll get you a ticket," he said, suddenly standing. Hermione felt the absence of his touch and almost reached for him to come back, but that was selfish. Barely an hour since her relationship had ended and she was already clinging to the first male body she could get her hands on for comfort. She made a mental promise not to rely too much on Draco, or Harry, in the coming months.

"You, Draco Malfoy, are going to go to a Muggle airport and buy a Muggle ticket for a Muggle plane ride that I'm sure is sold out already, which means you'll have to negotiate, using Muggle money, with a Muggle airport employee?" The playful smile on Hermione's tearstained face took any possible sting out of her words.

Draco smirked at Harry, then turned back to Hermione, standing up tall, putting on his most haughty expression. "In case you've forgotten, I'm Draco Malfoy." He sniffed. "I do whatever I please and I always get what I want." He smirked at her then and she smiled. "Come on Potter, I'll need you to drive me. Can't be apparating into a Muggle airplane port.

"Airport," Harry corrected him with a roll of his eyes.

"Same thing," he said. He turned back to Hermione and pointed at her. "Listen Granger, you're coming with us on this blasted trip one way or another. Understood?"

Hermione couldn't help but smile as she looked up at him - the man who had once been an enemy, who was now one of her closest friends. "Understood," she said with a nod.

"Call if you need either of us," Harry said, pulling her from the couch to hug her.

"Did you really punch Ron?" she asked quietly into his ear.

He squeezed her a little tighter. "I most definitely did. Right in the face. Even the time you socked Malfoy would pale in comparison."

She laughed, even as fresh tears welled in her eyes.

Harry knew her better than anyone - better than Ron, by a long shot, and better than her new friends - and he knew that even in her anger, she was worried about her wayward ex. "When we get back, we'll get him some help. You and me. Maybe you dumping him will be the kick in the pants he needs to get his life together."

She nodded against his neck before she let go. To her surprise, Draco pulled her in for a hug next. It wasn't that he never touched her - he was a surprisingly tactile person with those he cared for - it was just that he was being so nice. He was one of her friends, probably one of her best friends, but that didn't mean his personality had totally changed over the last few years. He was still an insufferable prat most days. "Pack your bags, Granger," he said into the quick embrace, causing her to laugh.

"Thank you," she said into his chest - he was considerably taller than Harry. "For being with me tonight." He just squeezed her once more and let go.

"Come along, Potter. Time for you to play driver." He smirked at the raven haired boy. "I knew it would happen one day!"

"Bloody hell," Harry said with an eye roll before they both apparated away, presumably to go get Harry's car and drive to the airport.

"I'll never get used to that," Pansy said as Hermione flopped down on the couch next to her.

"The sight of them together?" Hermione asked as the reality of her night settled in - a strange mix of devastation and comfort.

"Yes. It's eery." Pansy shivered.

"Some might say the same about you and me," Hermione said, bumping her shoulder against Pansy's, making her laugh.

"Yes, but girls are notoriously more mature than boys are," she said shrugging. "Now, would you like to me describe to you what it was like when Harry socked that ginger git right in the face?" She waggled her eyebrows, and even with a stab of pain at the reminder of Ron, she laughed. "Or should we get you packed? We leave tomorrow afternoon you know."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Let's stick with the face punching story. There's no way they'll get the ticket," she said, sitting up and pulling her neglected laundry hamper close. How had so much changed in the span of an hour, but also, so little?

"Oh, he'll get the ticket," Pansy said, pulling unfolded clothes from the hamper and helping. "When that man wants something, he gets it."

Hermione felt something stir in her belly, but pushed it down. "He's a good friend," she said with a nod, glad that her face was already red from crying so Pansy wouldn't see the slight blush that crept there.

Pansy looked at her skeptically for a moment, but let it pass without comment. Instead, she folded clothes, setting aside clothes that would be beach appropriate, and recounted beat for beat how Harry had confronted Ron before punching him in the face.

As they folded clothes, she couldn't seem to help the silent tears that slipped down her cheeks as they worked, even as she laughed at Pansy's stories. She wasn't sure how she felt, really. She felt sad, devastated even, but also a bit relieved. Whatever it was, it hurt and it was confusing. When they were finished, Hermione stood.

"Would you like some popcorn? I think I'll have some. And maybe some ice cream," she said as she wiped her eyes. Her eyes were swollen from crying, and her face felt tight, but she felt OK. At least right in this moment.

"Sounds perfect," Pansy said, lifting the stack of folded clothes and carrying them to her room, leaving the non-beach appropriate clothes folded in the basket. "I'm just going to go finish packing your bag for our trip."

Hermione rolled her eyes and called from the kitchen. "They won't get the ticket!" she said with a laugh. "I'll just have to unpack it when we get the news."

"Then we'll unpack it!" Pansy called back, and Hermione shook her head. Much like Draco, Pansy generally got what she wanted.

After the popcorn was popped, and Hermione had two overly full bowls of peanut butter ice cream drenched in chocolate sauce, she returned to the living room where Pansy once again sat, a cat-like grin on her face. Hermione handed her her ice cream and looked at her cautiously. "What is it?" Hermione asked, squinting at her. She loved Pansy, but she still didn't always understand her.

In response, Pansy held Hermione's phone toward her. Hermione had forgotten it on the floor, kicking herself for possibly leaving one of her friends hanging when they needed her, just because she was too wrapped up in her own problems.

"You have a message," she said with a smirk.

Hermione took her phone, unlocked it with her thumb, and a huge grin spread across her face. Draco had sent her a text - a rare occurrence in and of itself. It was a selfie of Draco and Harry, both cheesing, holding a new plane ticket in front of their faces. The message itself just said, I get what I want, Granger. See you tomorrow. Followed by the smiley face emoji with sunglasses. Hermione laughed and rolled her eyes. She should have never introduced a Slytherin to emojis.

"I suppose I won't need to unpack after all," she said, smiling as she took a big bite of her peanut butter chocolate sundae.

Pansy grinned back as she kicked her shoes off and curled her legs under her, then took a more reasonably-sized bite of her own ice cream. "Told you he'd get the ticket," she said, saluting Hermione with the spoon. "As he so eloquently said earlier, he's Draco-bloody-Malfoy, he always gets what he wants." She winked at Hermione - a gesture that gave Hermione butterflies, though she wasn't why - and laughed.

Together, Hermione and Pansy ate their ice cream, followed by their popcorn - the ultimate comfort foods. To keep Hermione distracted, Pansy entertained Hermione with stories of her past dating conquests, as well as all the times she'd watched her friends - namely Theo, Blaise, and Draco - crash and burn with other women. The stories had Hermione rolling with laughter.

By the time it was time to sleep, Hermione was still sad, but also exhausted in a good way. The whole evening had been a roller coaster of emotions, and Hermione had a feeling that would be her new normal for a while. Pansy had only been her friend for a couple of years, but she seemed to understand Hermione and what she needed. Without having to ask, Pansy borrowed some cotton pajama pants from Hermione's closet and crawled into the spot where Ron would normally sleep. In the dark, fresh tears seeped from her eyes onto the light purple pillow case. Pansy whispered to her, distracting her with plans for the States, until Hermione drifted off into a fitful sleep.