Author's Notes: I love the Dramione pairing, so enjoy. It's almost a lemon, but hopefully not OOC. What do you think?

Chapter One. I Dare You To Take Me On

Draco Malfoy had her right where he wanted her. Hermione Granger, in all her protests and verbal attacks on his character could also no longer deny their attraction. He was exploring underneath her clothes with his hands, kissing her passionately as his body pressed up against hers. They both wanted this, so there was no reason to put it off any longer.

She moaned into his mouth, gripping him fiercely as his right hand caressed her left breast, his other hand heading south. Approaching her knickers, his fingers slid under the cotton material; the arousing massage a far greater pleasure than she would have imagined possible.

As he probed her and prepared her for the penetration, she lost herself in his arms, in those dazzling eyes, and could not imagine a better person to lose her virginity to.

She forgot her hatred for this arrogant man, and pushed aside any lingering resentment for his past transgressions. In her ecstasy and uncontrollable pleasure, he had already been forgiven. Those events that had led to this instance, this beautiful moment, they were what stayed with her. How had she found herself in this embrace, the road to this undying love, this inconceivable yearning?

She gripped him tighter, shifting against her office desk to give him a better angle on her.

Well, it had really begun here, in this very office...

X X X

It was over. Voldemort was dead. But still, the work wasn't done. Hermione had completed her final year at Hogwarts – all students were required to repeat, due to the unreasonable treatment of the curriculum while those Death Eaters had been in charge – and by the time she was considering taking Kingsley up on his offer, was already working at the Ministry for Magic. It had undergone changes, finally putting the right person in charge.

So now, she was the head of the new department at the ministry that everyone was talking about. The Department of Interdepartmental Cooperation was basically a go-between the departments. The way Kingsley explained to her, her job was to liaise between the departments, but it was more than that. For generations, the departments had operated independently, answering only to their head and the Minister for Magic himself. But now the new regime dictated that some sort of overview would become necessary. It sounded boring, but the plus side was that Hermione had finally found a position in the ministry that was dedicated to improving the way things worked. There had been similar thoughts in the past to incorporate such a feature, mostly after the first time Voldemort had attempted to take over, but mumblings and misgivings had silenced that idea. Now however, was the time for such a change.

This made her think of her friends, and where they all were now.

Ronald was being his usual difficult self, eager to start his career in Quidditch, joining the team for England within a week of trying out. He wanted her to move in with him and leave London, only a week after she'd moved back in to the city. After all his complaining, their subsequent arguments and talk of the future, there was no getting around the fact that their lives were heading in different directions.

Harry of course, was qualifying for his Auror licence, landing his dream job and looking for a place to move to now that he was free of the Dursleys and had decided not to make number twelve Grimmauld Place his official residence. Ginny was still living at the Burrow, but Hermione believed it would not be long before they started to look for a place together.

Love was in the air and those two were taking full advantage of that fact.

Meanwhile, Hermione had a bit of a problem herself.

"Granger!"

The Malfoy family was currently under review for their part in the rise of Voldemort, and had been for months now. So as Draco Malfoy approached Hermione, it was done with trepidation and a furtive glance at the doorway, where his escorts stood, waiting for him. Being followed by ministry hounds was getting on his nerves.

"What is it Malfoy?" Hermione was irritated that he had the gall to enter her office without the proper greeting. She was his boss, after all.

His transfer to her department was not his idea. It was a part of his so called rehabilitation for his part in the attempted takeover of the Death Eaters. He had testified to keep himself out of Azkaban, but it was Potter's testimony that had given him his freedom. His father and mother were under an indefinite house arrest for their transgressions, and had avoided Azkaban in much the same way Draco had. But Draco often found himself wishing he shared their punishment. He was a Malfoy, not a lackey!

According to Kingsley, the new Minister for Magic, he and others like him were being given this opportunity to wipe the slate clean. If he kept this up, he would be able to join the rest of the Wizarding community and the blight on his record would be expunged. Basically, this was his last chance to put all that behind him. His parents however, would forever be judged for their involvement.

So it was with the greatest restraint that Draco spoke to the Mudblood, remembering to not use that term, no matter how much he wanted to. "This report you told me to write is ridiculous," he said, throwing it down on her desk.

The parchments knocked over her own work but she moved the ink bottle out of the way just in time. She sighed. "It's just a review on your work. You might be pleasantly surprised by what you read when I hand in your evaluation to the Auror Office. Now would you be so kind as to take the papers back, and get out of my office!"

He narrowed his eyes at her. She was joking, she had to be – since when did she ever write a good report about him? What was the matter? Wasn't Weasley giving her a good thrust at home? He snickered at that.

"And what's so funny, Malfoy?"

Draco lost his smirk. "Nothing." He snapped up his half written report and stalked out.

Hermione growled after him. 'Why me?'

X X X

Hermione was staring out the window at the fake outside wondering what to do. Draco was becoming more and more obtuse and disrespectful, but she didn't want to put that in her report. He'd probably just get a reprimand, but she did not trust him enough to think he would stop there. Harry had asked her to help him. His testimony was worth a lot of weight. In fact, so many of the changes in the ministry were because of that meeting he had had with Kingsley shortly after the fall of Voldemort.

She sighed, drinking her pumpkin juice thoughtfully. Not everyone was happy with the new regime of course, Draco was proof of that, but things had to change. It was for close to a year that Voldemort had controlled everything the ministry did and if they didn't change things, people might begin to fall back on the old rules, and all the good Harry and Kingsley had done in that meeting would have been for nothing. Still, perhaps they were moving too fast.

She mused on that for a bit before there was a knock at her door. "Come in."

His name was Rotgar, and for the entire length of the Death Eater reign, he had been under the Imperius curse. He was a scruffy fellow, with vacant eyes, curse, or no curse. He had the overall look of a man who had spent years on the streets. In fact, he made Hermione think of a decent version of Wormtail.

"Yes," she said when he just stood there, "what is it?"

He shook himself. "Ma'am, there is a disturbance with one of your charges. Down in the cannery."

Cannery? Right, he probably meant the employee lounge. She supposed it was too much for him to remember. And he used to work in a food production business, so that was how he made the connection. She wondered if he was a Squib, but it would be indecent of her to ask.

"Okay," she said and stood up. "Show me."

She didn't know why she was surprised. Draco Malfoy was abusing someone clearly from Magical Maintenance about the windows, or something. His escorts were just standing there. It wasn't in their job description to get involved. Hermione strode across to him, saying his name, her voice commanding and loud.

He turned around and, upon spotting her, a look of sheer fright crept over him.

"Oh relax Malfoy," she said, rather enjoying his abject fear. "Get your backside up to my office now!"

"Right Granger," he retorted, having recovered slightly from the initial shock. "And which one would that be? The minister's or Potter's?"

He immediately regretted his words. People scampered as she bellowed. "WHAT DID YOU SAY MALFOY? ARE YOU DISOBEYING YOUR CASE MANAGER? I'LL HAVE YOU LOCKED IN CHAINS FOR THIS!"

He ran from her sight, the escorts following suit. Hermione took a deep, calming breath before marching angrily back to her office. She was going to make Harry pay for putting her in this position.

X X X

The letter read something like this:

'Attention: Secretary for the Head of the Auror Office, Ministry of Magic.

Re: Evaluation Case Report 401-526: Draco Malfoy.

After much deliberation and revising of the performance of Draco Malfoy, it is therefore the opinion Hermione Granger, Head of the Department of Interdepartmental Cooperation, that one Draco Malfoy be reprimanded and responsibility for him be returned to the Auror Office.

His attitude is poor and he resists all attempts to help him better his performance. I believe he would be better suited to finish off his assessment and subsequent rehabilitation in an environment outside of the Ministry for Magic.

Yours Sincerely,

Hermione Granger, Head of the Department of Interdepartmental Cooperation.

It wasn't what she had been wanting to say, but after this last stunt, he left her little choice. If Draco Malfoy could not be taught restraint and humility here, then his rehabilitation was a complete failure. She was sure however, that their history was preventing Draco from respecting her – that and he probably still thought of her as nothing more than a Mudblood.

She shivered with revulsion at even the thought of that word. It was so disgusting.

Hermione affixed her letter to the Interdepartmental Memo Sheet and waved her wand at it. In no time, it would reach the Auror Office and this nasty affair would be done with. She glanced at Draco. He was sitting on the single lounge chair in the corner of her office, pretending to care more about his cuticles than her report. His feigned boredom was just another aspect to the swagger of his demeanour that had annoyed her for so many years.

"You'll be pleased to know you won't have to put up with me for much longer," she said. "I'm sure they'll reassign you somewhere you'll be more comfortable."

He looked up at her. "Whatever Granger, just admit you can't hack it. My being here unnerves you and you'd rather give up and run away like a filthy Muggle."

She stood up angrily, but he didn't flinch at her glare this time. "You want to use your wand on me," he said coldly. "You want to make me beg for mercy." He stood up and narrowed his eyes at her. "I dare you to recall that memo and take me on Granger. Or are you too chicken?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. She definitely wasn't chicken. "Alright Malfoy, you're on."

X X X

Author's Notes: So the pieces are set and the beginning is done. More romance to come. So, tell me what you think. Do you love?