Chapter One
She's glowing. That was the first thought that ran through his head. Granger is absolutely glowing.
The last time he'd seen her in person was when she was testifying at his trial. Tears upon tears streaking down her face as if she wasn't even aware of them, she retold the story of that night; the night at the manor. He thought her crazy, there she was weeping in the Wizengamont court pleading for his innocence. Innocent, that's the word she used to describe him. Of all the words she could use to describe him she chose innocent. He was thankful that was certain but it boggled his mind, after all they had been through together she chose to speak for him. He'd watched her bleed, scream and sob as she was tortured on the drawing room floor by his psychotic aunt and yet she spoke for him.
He shook his head, as if to clear it from the dark thoughts of the past. In the past three years Draco had moved forward. After being pronounced 'innocent' by jury due to the 'extenuating circumstances' upon which he was marked and forced to participate as one of the Dark Lord's many minions in hellish acts. He thought them all as mental as his aunt at that moment. They'd unlocked his chains and from then on Draco Malfoy vowed to be his own man, redeem the Malfoy name and most importantly ensure that he used the second chance he was given for good.
After the trials Granger and Potter had disappeared. One minute they were there, speaking or simply watching as every man, woman and child who had been involved in Voldemort's regime had been tried fairly and honestly, then next they were gone. The papers claimed that they had been abducted and killed by underground radicals that had evaded capture following the end of the war. Finally after weeks of hysteria and rumours Kingsley Shacklebolt, the current Minister for Magic, had to step forward and assure the masses that both war heroes were safe and had left to retrieve Granger's parents. Quickly the hysteria abated and the people of Wizarding Britain went back to rebuilding the world that had come close to destruction.
Strangely it seemed that the Weasley clan quickly stepped forward into the spotlight in an attempt to get their 15 minutes of fame. Sure enough when they realised what they could gain they worked it all they could. Weasley landed a starting keeper position with the Cannons and Weaselette spent the majority of the time prancing around spending her war bonus (taken of course from charged Death Eaters sent to Azkaban) and prattling on about her wedding to Potter. After several months it became clear that Potter and Granger were gone for good, whispers started again. Apparently (not that Draco Malfoy was one for gossip) the pair had sent a simple owl note stating that they would not be back for a while and that they wished the Weasley family the best. His mother (by way of a chatty Daphne Greengrass now girlfriend to Dean Thomas) had discovered that Weaselette had blown a hole in the wall of her parents' home after receiving the letter.
He, along with many others, doubted that the two had run off together romantically or that Potter had been poisoned with a love potion by Granger. The latter accusation had of course been courtesy of a full page spread on the Weaselette and her 'magical' love story with her one true love Harry Potter. It was plain to all that Granger was simply the family Potter never had, a sister to lean on and most importantly; trust above all else. Three years had passed and now there they were, Potter and Granger, striding confidentially through Diagon Alley towards Gringotts.
Granger with her untameable hair flowing in the breeze as she strode quickly through the crowds was with Potter, who it seemed had finally had a decent couple of meals, clutching onto her arm. The pair quickly disappeared into the foyer of the bank and disappeared down a hall with a goblin. He turned to his mother whom he was accompanying shopping and grinned. Finally something interesting. His days had started to become dull as he built the Malfoy fortune towards what it once was. He'd started a company from ground up, Malfoy International, slowly amassing customers and community support. After all, importing and exporting goods was a lucrative business and many regular wizards and witches didn't want to go the extra mile to acquire a potion ingredient or object when they could not easily access it on the British Isle. Turns out helping lazy wizards makes for a tidy profit.
He'd digressed. Back to Granger and Potter. His mother had simply smiled at him, said in that soft tone of hers "Really Draco, Miss Granger again? Here I thought you'd moved on." Any number of odd noises and grunts had quickly spurt from his mouth in an attempt to rebut his mother's quip but none formed a clear statement. Now smiling largely that she'd stumped her son she pulled on his arm and walked him towards the nearby flower shop.
"Come along Draco" she said as she pulled him towards the roses and started to prattle on about the sorry state of the flowers. Draco said nothing, he merely nodded. Granger was back, Granger was back, the phrase repeated over and over in his brain. Granger was back and she was simply glowing.