Ok…so this is my first one shot because so far I've only done chapter stories. I know one shots should be quite long so I hope I make this long enough. I hope you like the story so….

Disclaimer: Why must we fanfiction writers ALWAYS use writing space to write the disclaimer? I'm not JK Rowling…yada yada, you'renot JK Rowling (unless, of course you are…reading fanfiction and amusing yourself, but if you are, I have to tell you, I totally worship you…I worship you…).

Twists In Life

Draco was very tired…this was the first holiday he'd had in a while, though life had been treating him quite well. Quite well, indeed. He laid back on his beach chair and enjoyed the nice morning air of the mountains.

The green mountains looked very picturesque; they had sort of a mint color because of the green topped with the white snow and as Draco put his coffee to his lips and sipped slowly, enjoying the warm taste. He watched as two children made a snowman near his lodge.

They were both very well covered with a nice two layers of warm clothes and the boy, who seems older… seven maybe was listening bemusedly to the younger sister, who seems around four, as she was telling him where the carrot and the sticks must go.

"OH no Nathan, you didn't put those arms right!", said the little girl pulling the sticks out from the globby snowman and putting them back in, at the exact same place.

"Uh, Liah, that's exactly where I put it!"

The girl nodded with a self-satisfied smile and said, "Nuh-uh! No it's not!"

The boy shook his head frustratedly and said, "Brat. Here, now get some arms." and he took off the snowman's 'arms' and broke one.

"I'm going to tell Daddy! You're being mean again!" said Liah with a bawl as she ran to her father.

Nathan followed and started protesting against his sister's pleas to their dad.

Draco was at lodge and it had a very nice porch with a little lawn in front of it in front of which was a stone path where Draco had seen various muggles pass by, walking, taking their pets out for a little morning exercise, and that sort of whatnot. He hadn't seen anything very special but the view was extremely nice and Draco found it nice to relax here.

Saying this was the first holiday he had taken in years was not an exaggeration because it truly was. He was a ministry official, a correspondent and that meant he rarely saw home ground but the trips were no fun because he was always working and that was why a holiday was much needed. It wasn't that getting out was very exceptional but getting out and staying out without having to pick up papers or apparate soon back was good.

There was always so much random work to be done that it almost seemed like there was too much useless work that they were giving him for lack of any other assignment to give him. He was rarely home and sometimes missed out on a lot but he had been there when he was needed at home. Such as, for example, Narscissa died. Those were dark days but he had worked through them with help.

After working as a temporary teacher at Hogwarts for Potions, Draco had received a letter asking if he could go on one correspondence assignment for the ministry just because they needed a case from the area but their usual correspondent had just resigned and Draco had said he would enjoy doing a piece at some point.

He'd gone to Transylvania to do a report on the allegation that vampires had recently made a policy that the Ministry didn't agree with and where they were executing their tactics.

He'd enjoyed the assignment so much that within days, he had been recruited to the status of the Head Ministry Correspondent and had found a suitable replacement for his position as the Potions Master. He had felt a little wistful at leaving Hogwarts though and that was understandable, after all, it held so many special memories.

The corresponding position had given him a good status in the Ministry and he was quite well off now, of course his wealth also consisted of his father's inheritance.

Draco was currently not seeing anyone, he couldn't. Before he was a teacher at Hogwarts and after the war, he had been seeing various women but then he'd stopped because he had no need or wants to date any women.

He was very happy with his position but sometimes it asked too much of him and that was why Draco had asked for leave—to spend time relaxing and finally giving some time to the more important things in life.

He'd gained some special memories in this time he'd been…quite odd they were, really.

♥

Hermione breathed in the cool mountain air as she meditated. It was a great idea to come to the hills for a vacation; she never seemed to get one anyway. This scenic getaway was exactly what she needed, the mountains, and peace…

She breathed in and breathed out and finished her morning exercise and got up and went to sit by a nice tree and took out a book about the Unity Proposals between Goblins and Wizards.

She read for a bit and then looked around at the cottages. They looked so cozy and homey that Hermione could almost imagine Snow-white and the seven dwarves living in one of them. There were two children making snowmen and Hermione laughed as she saw them start quarreling and run away.

She rubbed her hands and breathed upon them to keep warm. This was the first holiday Hermione had taken in a while but work was just so busy! She never found time away from the Ministry, it was quite a demanding task but seeing Harry everyday was easy since he worked as an auror while Ron was off playing Quidditch.

From where Hermione sat, the view was enchanting. From the hilltop, she could see a bit of the tiny farms down on the terraced hills but clouds and mist mostly covered everything. The air smelt of a fresh snowfall and it was a winter wonderland. Hermione liked the way this scene reminded her of childhood fairy tales.

Hermione worked as a head official in the Department Of Wizarding Law and Enforcement and wanted to be one of the Wizengamot at some point. She was well recognized in the Wizarding World now for having achieved the Giants' Wizarding Treaty where Giants were allowed to learn magic if they showed they had the capability. This was one of her many achievements after the War.

The War… Hermione had played the part she had wanted to, fighting right alongside Harry and Ron until the very end. It was she who had brewed the counter potion for Harry when the Order had realized he was being controlled by Voldemort through the help of a potion that had somehow been slipped into Harry's drink by a spy. Hermione would never forget having to go through the last day where she witnessed the deaths of those she loved, her parents had been murdered earlier on at the beginning of seventh year. But she had to bear the deaths of Molly Weasley and Tonks through it all with Harry and Ron.

After the war stopped, life had become drastically different. No longer did they wait for new "dark" happenings in the paper. No longer did they wake up everyday, thinking 'What today?'. No longer did they watch helplessly as more and more death took place.

Hermione had taken boarding with Ron for a while after the war but he left soon after they broke up to go play for the Chudley Cannons. She didn't intrude on Ginny and Harry's privacy by asking to stay with them and just when she thought she was horribly desperate, a letter from Hogwarts came. McGonagall asked if Hermione could fill in for the Runes position as a teacher at Hogwarts permanently and Hermione couldn't really think of a better thing to do with her life so she accepted.

Ancient Runes had always been a passion for her and she enjoyed teaching it. Hogwarts had left Hermione with a lot of interesting experiences with her students and the teachers too. She wouldn't forget the time one of her students decided they could do 7th year Runes and experimented in the Room Of Requirement and disappeared the next day. He was found a week later in Egypt. Some sort of Rune connection.

But while at Hogwarts, she had seen that a position at the Ministry in the Department Of Wizarding Law and Enforcement but it was a minor position but Hermione decided she could still give it a try and she went for an interview on the weekend and received an owl in a month saying she had received the position.

She resigned from Hogwarts wistfully and accepted her new role as a Minor 9-to-5 worker in the Law cataloguing section. Somehow, Hermione had worked her way up to what she was now and she was very proud of what she had done.

Hermione sighed and leaned back comfortably against the tree. A blanket she had brought along with her covered the snow on the ground. She put her book down and picked another up—Friendship Enflamed—it was a guilty indulgence for Hermione to read romance novels…she just couldn't force herself to keep reading the same old lines about 'Goblin rebellion against wizards is growing very common. We suggest the reason for this is improper treatment of the vaults being demoralized by…'

She got up and decided it was time to go back to her rented cottage. Sighing, Hermione got up and walked the stone path to her cottage. There were many people out, she saw some people having a snowball fight and others lounging on their porches, enjoying the morning air.

'Speaking of morning air…what's he…' Hermione thought as she saw a man lean back into his chair and use a stick to tap the cup he held in his hand.

"Malfoy?"

"Granger?"

"What're you doing?"

"Making my hot chocolate hotter. Would you like some?"

"…Uhm…Okay…"

"Right then, so what're you doing here?"

"I'm on holiday, like you I guess. I came back early from meditating because I got bored there…"

Hermione tentatively picked up the hot chocolate.

"Go on, drink it. I assure you, I'm not poisoning you." Said Malfoy showing that ever-witty vocabulary of his.

"How do I know? Hmm? You're capable of anything! Anyway, haven't seen you in a while…and why are you being so nice and calm and all?" Hermione snapped at the smirking blonde.

"I'm a general all round nice person! You hurt me!"

"Oh right, Hogwarts really proved that. I mean, you know, because nice people REALLY go around calling people mudbloods and poor. When they're not better themselves, " said Hermione suggestively coughing.

Malfoy rolled his eyes, "Back to that are we?"

Hermione stifled a giggle. She sometimes saw Malfoy at work and she had enough of him there, that man could really pick on someone's nerves at times.

They both settled into a somewhat comfortable silence and both watched the two children Hermione had seen earlier continue making a snowman. They had found a black scarf somewhere and now were arguing about the right way to put it on. On a snowman. Okay…

Draco rolled his eyes again as he thought about the girl next to him. No doubt, she was also looking at the two children. He smiled a little as he thought about when he had first seen her at Hogwarts.

Flashback:

Draco walked into the Great Hall, taking in the old splendor of the hall where he'd spent his childhood. The sky in the Hall shone bright with a great amount of stars and Draco was instantly transported back to his school years for a while.

Walking to the teacher's table, Draco nodded at some Slytherin students he knew already. He sat down next to a woman who he didn't know, or at least thought he didn't know—he hadn't seen her yet. Taking his food, he started up a conversation with the DADA teacher. Their conversation about werewolves was continuing quite nicely until…

"YOU?"

Draco turned to see who was flattering him with this welcome and who could it be but Granger?

She looked quite different from their Hogwarts days. Her body had matured and she'd FINALLY tamed that bush she called "hair". It looked like she had actually tried a little to look nice…

"Oh hullo Granger. Are you teaching now too?"

"Obviously…my guess is you teach Potions?"

"Nothing else. What do you teach…Runes r something of that sort, I suppose?"

"I'll have YOU know that Runes is much more interesting than Potions."

"Because looking at little drawings and interpreting is really going to help us in the Wizarding World."

Hermione mumbled something along the lines of "Stupid ferret thinks he's Merlin…"

"You know, Granger, it is quite unhealthy to talk to yourself like that. One might think you were crazy…that is, if you aren't already." drawled Draco as he finished his wine.

"Oh haha Malfoy, aren't you the funny one? Stupid prat, you are." Hermione said sarcastically.

Draco clicked his tongue, "Now, now I expected a better comeback from 'the brightest witch of our age'. Whatever happened to that snappy tongue of yours?"

"It's taking a vacation. God Malfoy. Didn't you ever learn civilized behavior? Or is this your idea of it?"

"Because YOU would really know right. Any man who meets you must be charmed, I'm sure."

"You aren't a walk in the park either ferret."

"Oh it's back to that now is it mudblood? How did Gryffindor stand you all these years?" Draco said, lounging in his chair.

"It was probably easy for Slytherin to stand you. I mean, you were the worst. Which other Slytherin was as nasty as you?"

"WHY, thank you. That's the first compliment I've ever received from you."

"Only you would take THAT as a compliment."

"Only you would think a Slytherin wouldn't want to be nasty…so, what've you done since the…battle? Ever got it off with Potter or Weasley…Ah wait, I forget. The Weaselette and Potter were together weren't they? Perfect match, that was."

"Aren't you a bit old to be calling them Weaselette and all? And no, Ron and I never "got it off" but weren't you betrothed to Pug face? So is there a Mrs. Draco Malfoy now?"

"Who's name calling now? Figures Potter and Weasley got a life and left you with nothing. No Pansy died in the Final Battle and I can't say I was too upset."

"Wow, I would really like to be YOUR friend. And don't you dare talk about my friends like that. I, unlike some people think friendships are important. You probably wouldn't give a damn if someone went and killed themselves so don't try to preach what you don't practice." Hermione said angrily, restraining herself from yelling.

"How do you know? How do you know Potter and Weasley didn't just give up on you?"

"Because they're not like you or your friends and they don't abandon people because they don't support them or for any reason, for that matter."

"Well, I wouldn't blame them for abandoning you either way…"

"Why don't you just GO DIE somewhere Malfoy?"

And Hermione had stormed out with that. But eventually, they'd managed to grow to bear each other. Imagine both their surprises when they discovered both were going to be working in the Ministry. Hermione frowned when she heard he was a correspondent.

"Well, anyway, Malfoy, I must be getting inside now."

Hermione's voice pulled Malfoy out of his stupor and he nodded distractedly. Suddenly,

"Mum! Dad! Look at our snowman!!! His name is 'Charlie'!"

"No it's NOT, it's 'Frosty'!"

And with that Nathan and Liah started bickering so Hermione and Draco had to stop them.

"Nathan, Liah, stop fighting. Whatever his name is, he's very nice looking. Very…um…" Draco searched for hat would make them happy.

Hermione finished his sentence, "…Uhm, snowy."

Nathan and Liah beamed at the praise and went back to playing.

Hermione laughed slightly and said, "Now I really am going to go in and see if there's anything to eat."

She pecked him one the cheek and went in.

Draco sighed contentedly and waited for Hermione to come back…

Life definitely wasn't what he thought it would be, no, it was better.

Loved it, hated it??? R&R no matter what cause your criticism helps, I hope I didn't get anything to confusing and stuff. Tell me if you got it!! I won't be updating Traces Of Love until after my exams so this is the only thing I'm doing for a while.