Chapter One – ''The only problem with resisting temptation is that you may not get another chance''
The shrill buzz of her alarm, rattling her bedside table as it jumped around, jolted her into a semi-conscious state in the same way that it did every morning. She dragged herself out of the warm, cocoon-like bed, grumbling at the brightness of the light, as she did every morning. She showered, she dressed, she bolted a cup of coffee, she made her way to work and sat behind her desk, the same way she did every morning.
Smiling at the people who bustled past her desk, she glanced at the calendar displayed in the office and felt a pang rip through her. Two years. Two whole years had gone by since that day when she had crept out of the Room of Requirements, tears rolling down her cheeks, leaving Draco sleeping angelically. Angela, passing by her desk, raised an eyebrow quizzically. ''Are you ok Hermione?''
Hermione flashed a bright smile. ''I'm fine, why?''
''You looked like you thought your world was crumbling around you.'' The older witch laughed and carried on her way.
Hermione stared down at the paper on her desk. Her world wasn't crumbling around her, she told herself firmly. She had survived two years without Draco: she had finished her year at Hogwarts, she had gone with Harry, found Horcruxes, fought in the Final Battle, watched Voldemort die, got herself a fantastic job and she had her own flat. Her life was hardly bad, she thought, as she began flicking through the latest paperwork.
The rebellious little voice in her head that she seemed to spend her life trying to silence piped up: 'it might not be a bad life, but it's hardly a good one, is it? You spend your life running from any kind of contact with men, constantly deflecting Ron's advances and you know why don't you?'
Hermione stared resolutely at the paper and began to read. ''The protection of magical….''
'Don't you dare ignore me' shrieked the little voice. 'You avoid all of these things because you know they'll interfere with the perfect little world you've created where you're with Draco every night, and he's utterly perfect.'
And I'm utterly pathetic, Hermione thought hopelessly. Two years, two whole long years, and I can't put one pathetic little boy out of my head. And it's not like I can even claim to be upset because he broke up with me, because I left him on my terms.
'And you know why you can't get him out of your head, don't you?' The little voice was taunting mercilessly now. 'It's because you love him. You love him, and you threw him away. Threw him away like he was nothing to you.'
He wasn't right for me, and you know it, Hermione told the voice firmly.
Angela, walking back past Hermione's desk, stopped in front of her, eyebrows raised. ''Hermione, I don't think I've ever seen you looking so angry.''
''Sorry…I've got a lot on mind.''
''Well,'' Daisy, who worked on the next desk, leaned over. ''Why don't you come out with us tonight? We'll take your mind off your troubles.''
Hermione thought for a minute. The hangovers that she had after going out with Daisy and her friends were usually ghastly enough to stop all brain functions for a couple of days. ''Yeah, why not?''
Later that night, Hermione tipped back her head and laughed uproariously at the sight of Daisy pulling herself up onto one of the tables in the bars and singing along to the song on. Taking another sip from her drink, she winced slightly at its strength and felt it rush straight to her head. She felt warm, fuzzy, giggly and completely disconnected from the world around her. Which is why she just smiled hazily as Daisy shouted across the bar, and beckoned to several men.
Shunting up along the seat, she examined the man sitting next to her, who had a shockingly prominent nose. She listened absentmindedly to a couple of extremely bitchy phrases running through her mind, and thought that it would probably be an excellent idea not to open her mouth in case one of the phrases came spilling out.
Daisy leaned over her and shouted to the man with the large nose. ''Simon, what are you doing here?''
''We've only just got off work and we got some news worth celebrating, so we decided to get a couple of drinks.''
''We?'' Daisy's eyes lit up with an acquisitive gleam. ''Is your friend male? And single?''
''Yeah. Why?''
''Because Hermione's single. Isn't she gorgeous?'' Daisy slurred loudly, and Hermione jolted out of her pleasantly dizzy reverie.
''I don't want to be set up with any one Daisy!''
''Oh, come on, you've been single for forever! Look here's…what's your friend's name?…Oh…Look Hermione, here's Howard!''
Hermione took one look at the gawky young man with suspiciously over-plucked eyebrows and knew that there was no way she was going to find her happily ever-after with that. After Draco, she had higher standards. Changing the subject quickly, she turned to Simon. ''So, what are you celebrating?'' It took a significant amount of effort to get the words out in a coherent sentence, and she realised that she was slightly drunker than she had thought.
Simon took a sip of his drink and sat back. ''Today we finally found one of the most elusive Death Eaters.''
''Oh, wow!'' Daisy and Hermione's reactions were more enthusiastic than was strictly necessary, but neither of the men seemed to notice. ''Who was it?''
''Malfoy.''
''Lucius Malfoy? I thought you already had him,'' Hermione said.
''We do. We got Draco Malfoy.'' Simon took another sip of his drink and turned momentarily to Howard. Hermione collapsed back into her seat, the glow from her alcohol vanquished by the cold slap of reality.
Draco? A Death Eater? It made sense, she supposed. But it was so far from every dream she had ever had about it, so far from all she had fantasized about. She had to be honest with herself, the majority of her fantasies revolved around herself bumping into Draco in some shop, and finding out that while he was just as charming, he was an entirely different person. Maybe even that he had been a spy for the Order. So to hear that he had been caught after acting as a Death Eater was an entirely unwelcome wake-up call.
Forgetting where she was, she leaned forward and rested her head on her hands, resisting the urge to break into noisy sobs. Horrible news, and then for it to come on the two-year anniversary of their break-up…Daisy shook Hermione's shoulder. ''Hermione, what's wrong?''
''Well, I…'' Hermione paused, realising that to blurt out details of a secret affair with a Death Eater was probably not the best idea she'd ever had. ''I've had a bit too much to drink. I think I'll go home.''
''Oh…well, maybe Howard could walk you home.''
Hermione took one look at the earnest smile on his face and wanted to cry even more. ''Daisy, I'm Apparating home. ''
With that, she was turning on the spot and promptly appearing in her living room. Sinking to the floor, she let out a low groan, and allowed a few exploratory tears to find their way out of her eyes and down her smooth cheeks.
Life simply wasn't fair, she had known that for a long time, but this seemed almost unbearable. Surely after all she had done, she was due some payback. Surely having to watch dozens of her friends die had earned her some karmic brownie points that could have let her have Draco back? But no, that idiot had gone and joined one of the most despicable men in the world, and now there was no chance of her ever getting what she wanted.
And yet, as much as she hated him for what he had done, she hated herself more because she knew she would be dreaming about him as soon as her head hit the pillow. And because some small part of her was already planning how she could get close enough to have at least one good look at him.
The next morning, pale and wan from a lack of sleep coupled with a hangover, she made her way into work, and smiled at Daisy who was collapsed in her chair. ''Had a good night last night then?''
''Extremely. I kissed Simon and he's going to owl me later.'' Her friend mumbled.
''He must not have seen you dancing on the table then.''
''Did I do that again? Oh, Hermione you should have stopped me, I promised myself I wasn't going to do that again.''
''You were enjoying yourself far too much for me to consider stopping you.'' Hermione giggled, and began clearing the paper on her desk. But Daisy wasn't finished with her yet.
''So what was wrong with you? And don't give me any of that crap about being too drunk. You were fine until Simon mentioned about Draco Malfoy.''
Hermione looked at Daisy appraisingly and suddenly realised how much she wanted to tell someone. Two years was too long to keep such a secret. Glancing around the otherwise empty office, she lowered her voice. ''You can't tell anyone.''
Daisy mimed zipping up her lips.
''When I was in my seventh year at Hogwarts, Draco and I…had a fling.''
Daisy's eyes widened to comic proportions but Hermione wasn't finished. ''It was completely taboo; he was a Pureblood Slytherin and I was a Muggle-born Gryffindor. It was totally secret and didn't go on for very long, but it was long enough for me to fall irrevocably in love with him.'' She smiled wistfully.
Daisy looked at her. ''How did it end?''
''Daisy, he's my polar opposite. He taught me how to be lazy, how to give in to my basest desires, but he wanted me completely to himself. He got furious if I spent any time around anyone else. So one evening, I just crept out of the room we were in while he was sleeping. He tried to speak to me a couple of times, but I think he knew I wasn't going to change my mind. I adored him, I still do, but he isn't any good for me. We just ignored each other until we finished at Hogwarts and then we haven't seen each other since.''
''And you've been secretly pining over him?'' Daisy shook her head in mock-despair. ''Come on Hermione, he'll have been on the run, he'll be mangy and catatonic.''
''You think?''
''Yeah.'' Daisy paused for thought. ''In fact, why don't we go and try and have a look at him? It might just show you that he's nothing special.''
Hermione nodded, perfectly aware that Draco's charm lay in more than his good looks. Even if he was hideous, he still had his blindingly bright charisma to rely on.
Later that day, Hermione and Daisy slipped through the corridors of the cellars of the Ministry of Magic. Azkaban had been left unusable after the war, so the cellars were being used as a makeshift prison. Protection and prevention spells were thick in the air and armed wizards patrolled the corridors in pairs. All it had taken was a minute of Daisy sweet-talking one of the guards and they both had official passes.
Hermione's heart was racing, pumping adrenalin through her system so fast that she thought she was going to pass out. She was quivering slightly and breathing unevenly as they drew up to Draco's cell.
Daisy looked at her warningly. ''You aren't going to do anything moronic like try and break him out, are you?''
Hermione glared at her. ''Being lovesick does not mean that I'm going to start breaking the law.''
Daisy smiled. ''I'll give you some privacy.''
She disappeared back along the corridor, and Hermione looked at the dark door that she was standing a couple of feet away from. Tentatively stepping forward, she felt her heart rate pick up yet again. Bringing herself in line with the door, she gently laid her hands on it, jumping slightly at the touch of the cold wood. Leaning forward, she looked through the small observation panel.
His hair was the first thing she noticed. Despite the dingy squalor of the cell, it still seemed to gleam. Its familiarity, the glossy white-blonde of it, was so nauseatingly recognizable that she thought she was going to throw up. Breathing deeply, her eyes followed the lines of his lean body. He had been almost adult in their seventh year, but now he was undoubtedly a man: older and with a stronger, older face. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, looking at his clasped hands. She looked at those long hands and was suddenly hit with a vivid memory of them moving across her body, caressing and stroking.
Draco gritted his teeth. Would this guard ever move on? He could tell that he was still ogling through the window because of the way the light fell. Turning his head slightly, he saw the small frame in the window and wanted to curse his brain for playing tricks on him. There was no way that one of the guards who stomped along the corridor could be Hermione…but the mirage wasn't fading. Her long curly hair was still there, framing a heart-shaped face with concerned golden eyes. Her lip was trembling slightly as she raised her wand and whispered the spell to allow them to speak to each other through the glass. ''Hello Draco. It's been a while.''
He jumped up from his bed and moved towards the door. ''Hermione?''
''The one and only.'' Her voice was shaking, and he could see the rise and fall of her agitated breathing. His own heart was racing faster, unable to believe that after so long she was standing in front of him again. He truly believed that he could have ripped the door off its hinges just to get at her.
''What are you doing here?''
''I work for the Ministry, for the Protection of Magical Creatures.'' Despite the circumstances, a note of pride crept into her voice and he smiled.
''Like you always wanted.''
''And what are you doing here? A Death Eater?'' Hermione knew it was wrong to have come here now. His charm hadn't diminished at all, if anything it was stronger than ever.
''What, there's no way the Ministry could be wrong?'' His tone dropped easily into the acerbic tones that she had heard so often. ''In fact, I'm not a Death Eater. Your Ministry has locked me up and isn't giving me a chance to defend myself.''
Hermione straightened her back. He might be charming but he wasn't going to pretend to be the injured party. ''Not a Death Eater? No Dark Mark then?''
His loaded pause told her everything she thought she needed to know. ''For Merlin's sake Malfoy. You just don't change, do you?''
''You're not much better, are you? Still sanctimonious and completely convinced that the institution is right!''
''Go on, lash out when you're in the wrong!''
''Call me crazy, but I'm adult enough to talk out my problems rather than just sneaking away and refusing to acknowledge that anything ever happened!''
''Don't you dare call me immature!'' Hermione was crushed, a mixture of poisonous anger, disappointed expectations and disenchanted love. ''I can't believe I thought I would be able to talk to you civilly!''
Draco looked at her, fiery and furious, and realised that he had forgotten just how gorgeous she was when she was angry. What was he meant to say to make her understand that he had thought about her every day, dreamed of her, cried over her betrayal, her silent exit from their romance. But before he could string together a single sentence she was leaving, her farewell bouncing off the stone of the corridor. ''Goodbye Draco.''
AN: hello lovely readers and welcome to the sequel! Hope you've enjoyed this chapter, please review and let me know. Lots of love…Petitesorciere xxx