Chapter One

Hermione walked along the Ministry halls to her office. When she opened the door, Seamus Finnigan was sitting in the chair next to her desk. He worked in the office right across from hers and going into each other's offices had become quite of a habit.

"What do you want Seamus?" she said pretending to be angry and frustrated by him. Hermione quickly started to settle into their comfortable routine of morning banter.

"I have come to tell you some interesting news."

Hermione's eyebrows raised. "What?" This was new.

"Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, Hestia Carrow, and Flora Carrow have all been promoted to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. I just wanted to let you know in case someone starts an insane rumor about Death Eaters in the Ministry Departments or whatever."

"Thanks," a smile spread across Hermione's face. She knew Seamus would always look out for her. "Is that all you came here to say?" Hermione, putting her hands on her hips, tried to regain some of her playful tone.

"Yes, I'll be going now. Bye Hermione."

"Bye, Seamus." He purposely bumped into her shoulder on his way out the door. Hermione started to think back to their Hogwarts days. She had barely even known him. First, he was the kid who blew everything up and then he was one of Ginny's stupid boyfriends. Now, since they were working in close proximity, they had become fast friends. Seamus had turned out to be smarter than she originally thought, so that definitely helped.

Hermione sat down at her desk and shuffled her papers. Four new people in a new compartment. That didn't happen often. And ex Death Eaters no less! There was something fishy about that. She stood up to go and get more information on the matter, simultaneously swinging her curls out of her face. She opened the door, took a left, then felt herself crash right into someone.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed, getting up and fixing her skirt.

"That's alright I - Granger?" A pale man said, his apologetic face turning into a smirk.

Hermione swore under her breath. "I don't have time for you Malfoy. Get out of my way."

"No, I think I'll stay right here if you don't mind."

"But I do mind," she quipped.

"Too bad," he replied.

Hermione sighed, "Malfoy, I have to ask the Head of the...wait, you can help me. Why did all those…" she searched for the right words. "Ex Death Eaters get moved into a different department?"

"Clifford Helios died yesterday. They had no one else to lead the department," he told her with a growl. "And I would like it if you didn't refer to me as a, what did you call it, 'Ex Death Eater'. I regret what I've done, now get over it!" His eyes immediate turned down to the floor, effectively avoiding any incredulous scare she could give him.

She studied him. His dirty blonde hair and squared jaw stood out against his slim, but muscular frame. Time had certainly been good to the Malfoy Heir.

She bit her lip, not quite sure what to do. "I forgive you." Hermione decided to just get it over with.

"You, what?!" he said taken aback.

"I forgive you. Good day to you Mal-Draco." Hermione brushed past him.

"Hey, wait, Granger. This does not change anything. We're still enemies!" he called.

Hermione smiled and kept walking. Wow. That's the first time Malfoy has made day.


Draco was having a crappy day. First he got transferred to another department, and of course it had to be the worst one out of all the places they could send him. The idiotic Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Then, he ran into the Beaver, Granger. That bushy haired, buck teethed, bookworm! She had the nerve to "forgive" him of all the things he'd done to her. Honestly, it wasn't even his fault his father raised him to believe those things. Why couldn't she just move past it and accept that neither of them made good decisions back then? Draco walked over to his desk, while Blaise sat down.

"Dray, did you hear the news?"

"Yeah, can you believe it?" He grunted slamming his head on the desk.

"We're going to end up like Loony Lovegood, I'm telling you Dray."

"I'd rather be like the Weaslette, than be like Loony."

The rest of the day passed by quickly. Draco soon grew bored of the stupid papers and random people asking him about God knows what. Really, some people needed to learn how to answer their own questions and fend for themselves.

Later, he walked to his new apartment that he shared with Blaise, and unlocked the front door. The apartment number was 13. Draco smirked, so much for luck being in their side. It actually was not that bad, with light green paint lining the walls , and a white sofa in the corner. It had a big black thin thing on the wall and a stick looking thing was hung next to it. When Draco questioned Blaise about it, he said it was a television. Whatever those things were. Apparently, it was some sort of muggle contraption. Draco was just about to go to bed, when Ron obnoxiously banged on the door. Begrudgingly, the Blondie opened it

"What do you want?" Asked Draco half-asleep.

"Since when does the Ministry promote Death Eaters like you?!" Ron yelled.

"Since when does the Ministry promote people with bad tempers who can't handle it when a childhood nemesis gets a decent job?" Draco smirked.

Ron shut up real fast, his face turning as red as his hair. He turned on his heel to leave but not before Draco gave one last remark. "And for the record, I've given up my old prejudices." Ron stopped for scarcely a moment, but then crossed the hallway in one long stride and promptly slammed the door behind him. Draco went to close the door, when he heard shouting from Ron and Hermione's apartment. Blaise and Draco looked smugly at each other both thinking the same thing. They crept up to the apartment and put their ears to the door to listen.

"I'm telling you, Malfoy is up to no good!" Ron yelled.

"Give him a chance, Ron, the Ministry wouldn't promote him if he was still a Death Eater!" Granger shouted back. Draco winced at the reminder of what he used to be.'

Completely bewildered, Ron shouted, "How can you say that? Just a couple of years ago, you would be on my side!"

"His mom saved Harry, we should be thankful for that. And the Malfoy's were the first family to defect to our side after the war!"

"Did the Malfoy's hire you to be their main advocate now? Did you and Finnegan tell Minister Kingsley to promote him, in exchange for something else?" Ron said sinisterly.

"No! But I will say Malfoy is smart, and that is why he was promoted. I didn't say anything to Kingsley about it. And what does Seamus have to do with this?"

"I bet you the Malfoy's are paying you and Finnegan big money to say this stuff about Mr. Blondie over there. And Finnegan has everything to do with this! You guys are always in each other's rooms doing, how should I say this... things."

Blaise and Draco looked at each other. They knew Granger was friends with Finnegan, but they didn't know they were close enough for Ron to suspect things happening between them.

"You are so gross Ron! Just because I'm dating you, doesn't mean I can't talk to other guys! We are just two people of the opposite gender who are good friends! And the only reason I'm sticking up for Malfoy is because he has so much stuff going on, especially since his father just died!" Granger said with a hint of sadness in her voice. Blaise gave Draco a sympathetic look. He knows his situation with Lucius.

"Oooh, feeling sorry for Blondie now are we!" Ron shouted, his voice dripping with disdain.

"I feel bad for him because I know what it's like to lose a parent. Thankfully, I got mine back, he will never see his father again." Granger said sounding on the verge of tears. This stopped Ron short.

"Just don't be too friendly to either Finnegan or Malfoy," Ron said obviously defeated.

Later, in the middle of the night, Draco heard someone crying in the hall. Climbing out of bed, he put his ear to the door...yes, it was definitely Granger. He tried to go back to bed, but he couldn't sleep with Granger crying. And his conscience nagging him, but he would be loathe to admit that to anyone. He opened the door walked over to her, putting his arm around her shaking body.

"Dra-Malfoy, you d-don't have to do this I'm-I'm fine. It's just, it's just Ron-" The last word was said with a huff of breath, like it was hard to say.

"Shh...Don't think about him, just try and go to sleep." Draco whispered. It was probably the nicest thing he'd ever said to her. She rested her head on his shoulder and started to relax. Draco felt her fall asleep. After a long while, he nodded off.

Draco woke up and promptly noticed that Granger was still in his arms. He studied her. She slept quietly, with no hint of a snore. Her face looked at peace. He'd never seen her like this. At Hogwarts she'd always had her nose in a book or was trying to save the world with the other two members of the Golden Trio. With a startling realization, Draco thought, This is how she was supposed to look. Now, she had worry lines on her forehead and bags under her eyes. He wondered what the war had done to her, how it changed her for better or worse. He got a sickening feeling in his stomach, why was he generally concerned for her well being? Glancing at the clock on the wall he noted it was 4am. He knew Granger got up early and he didn't want be there when she did. So he got up, careful not to disturb her, and tiptoed across the hall. Draco opened the door and crashed onto his bed. The last thought he had before falling asleep was, this is so much more comfy than the floor.