Rating: MA, for future reference. Warnings may include fluff, violent sex, and many more. Warnings will be listed at the beginning of each chapter.
I do not claim any rights to the Wizarding World or to any of the characters involved. All rights are reserved to JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series.

Chapter One:

About three years had passed since the war. Three years since that very fateful ending in which Harry Potter, the chosen one, defeated the wizarding world's greatest enemy. For the last three years, Hermione Granger had been doing mostly just volunteer work. She couldn't bring herself to get back into the grind of things. She, like so many others, was traumatized. She eventually rationalized with herself that she needed to get back to work to overcome this terrible depressed state. She couldn't expect recovery without trying to move on.

So she went into the Ministry of Magic to find a job. Given her role in the war, her outstanding education, and Dumbledor's coining of her being the brightest witch of her age, she got a job almost immediately. They placed her in a fairly high position in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement (DMLE). They told her to begin on Monday morning, promptly at nine. Satisfied with the success of her new job, she left the Ministry to find a cafe of sorts. She was hungry and decided she could go for some coffee.

She found a nice little cafe nuzzled up between shops in Diagon Alley, ordered a coffee, a soup, and a sandwich, and whisked off to some corner to read a bit and eat. She was enjoying her meal when a flash of something bright passed by her. She froze for a moment, mid sip, and took a moment to listen to her heartbeat. She gathered some courage and finally looked up to meet the back of the very head she had been worried about seeing. He had grown a few inches and filled out since the last time she saw him. He had obviously been keeping in shape. His hair was still as white blond as ever, and slicked back. Not with heavy hair gel either, not like in their first two years of schooling. No, this was clean, this was professional. He had a few loose strands in his eyes that seemed to be there on purpose. He smiled at the barista and it was a real smile. He looked happy.

Much to Hermione's horror, he seated himself away by merely two tables. He sat alone with a few documents in front of him, probably work related. She wondered what he had gotten into. She recalled he was remarkably talented with potions – the thought made her chuckle a bit. What's the worst that could happen in saying hello to him? After all, after the war ended, they were on the same side. He was only a kid then, a misled kid who looked all grown up now.

She cleared her throat a bit, quite obviously. He looked up and around him in the wrong direction, before returning to his papers. Her heart gave a little jolt before she decided to move across from him at the small table he had chosen. Having finished her meal, she moved with only her coffee. Pulling out the chair with a slightly shaky hand, she sat down. Curiously, his eyes moved slowly up. When his silver eyes met with the tips of her hair, now more tame but still identifiable from a mile away, he froze for a second. She couldn't blame him; she knew exactly what he felt like from only moments ago.

After a minute or two, Draco finally met Hermione's amber eyes. She offered him an amused smile that lit up her features. Still in shock, he could barely muster a weak smile before stammering out a hello. She giggled, her cheeks pushing her smile into her eyes. "Hello," she said back, her voice much older now. When he happened to recall her before, her voice always sounded shrill and accusing, probably screaming at him for being an utter dick. But now, it was calm, even – it was happy. She sounded happy.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, still recovering from the shock of seeing her after three years. Her smile broadened and she said, "I just got a job with the Ministry." His interest was piqued.

"I was wondering why I didn't see you around. I figured you would be out in the field with Potter and Weasley," Draco stated, cocking his head to the left. It was true, she has thought about becoming an Auror alongside them. They practically begged her to come along, but she just wasn't interested in the job. She told him this.

"So if not capturing bad guys, what are you off doing?" he asked.

"The second best thing. Law enforcement," she answered simply. She would work alongside her two best friends, just not out in the field. She worked in the subdivision of the Investigation Department.

Draco could feel his heart stop momentarily, wondering if the position of Mary had been filled by the very former-Gryffindor before him. "Which department?" he asked. She answered him and his heart skipped a beat.

"Granger, I'm the head of that department," he chuckled lightly. Her face paled before him, her milky white skin draining of most of its color. After a moment, her neck jolted, her pulse quickening. That was something she had ever considered. "Well, that's absolutely wild," she said breathily.

"Relax, I'm not going to use this against you... yet," he added with his trademark smirk. Though in the past that smirk had made anger flare within her, it made her tensed shoulders ease and her face crack into a smile. "I must say, Mister Malfoy, that is a comforting thought," she teased, crossing her legs and leaning back in her chair a bit.

She sighed, taking the last sip of her coffee and gathering her beige trench coat. She threw it over her shoulders and released her hair from under the material. She offered him a final smile and said, "See you Monday morning." She threw in a wink for good measure and turned to walk away from him. She left the cafe with worry beginning to slosh around in her stomach. Would this end well for her?