Hermione thumbed the cover of a tattered yellow book. It had a thick layer of dust on it that covered up any words that may have been inscribed on it. She coughed as she blew away the dust but no words were written not even on the back. She placed the book in the cart next to her and made a mental note to figure out how it got in her book store. She had read every single book that sat on the shelves of her store and knew she had never seen that yellow one before.

After the war, Hermione had decided that she needed a change in life. No more adventures but the ones that were written down, no more grief, pain and most importantly, no more death. She had lost more than most people realized being muggle-born and best friends with Harry Potter. She had lost some of her sanity trying to be strong for her friends and family when deep down inside she was breaking. A small part of her had almost believed that good wasn't going to be enough against the pressing evil that littered the streets of the magical world like a swarm of locust. She had prepared herself for the worst, but never let anyone know.

She trekked back to the front of the store with a cart of some books she had been planning on rereading. Her favorites were the romance novels. Hermione had never been in a real relationship nor had she ever really tried. It was hard these days to trust men who seemed to be only after her fame or money. Inside, she yearned to find that release when she could trust again and open herself up, mind and body to someone. Ron had taken a different route in life than she had hoped. He became promiscuous, trying to get with every woman that laid eyes on him. Hermione thought he was still suffering from some sort of "second best" complex but it didn't affect her anymore. She could do better than him. She wanted a deep, sensual love that made her body rush with adrenaline and her heart ache for more. She wanted someone to make her feel intelligent, strong and beautiful. Ron couldn't give that to her.

Before she could figure out which book to read first, the clock on her mantel struck loudly disrupting her thoughts. 4:00, time to close up. The door of the shop opened and a tall slender red-headed girl came in.

"Happy Hour now!" she said smiling devilishly at Hermione.

Hermione turned to her friend and laughed. "Okay Gin, just give me a second to close things up." She made sure the money in the cash register, though small in amount, was secure in the cash box. She closed the blinds on the window and followed Ginny Weasley out the door.

Diagon Alley was busy this time of the day. It was the beginning of October and the weather was breezy and warm. The bright red and yellow on the leaves added to the warmth of the town while everyone bustled around hurriedly trying to send a large package or admiring the new brooms in the Quidditch Shop.

This was Hermione's favorite time of the year. She loved the smell of pumpkins and candy apples. But most of all she loved Halloween. Although the wizarding world celebrated it much differently from muggles, she loved this holiday and all the eerie stories that came with it. Every year for Halloween she decorated her flat with skeletons and pumpkins, read horror stories about witches -the kind with green skin and warts, will sipping warm pumpkin juice. At the beginning of the night she dressed up in a costume to go out to a bar with her friends. Last year, Ginny had made her be mouse so that she could be a slutty cat and it would seem justified. Luna dressed up as a Demeter and scared half the pub as soon as she walked in.

Ginny lead Hermione down the road and made a right onto a back street.

"Where are we going? And where's Luna?" Hermione asked noticing they weren't going to their usual place The Stuffy Lizard.

"This new place a girl from work told me about. It's supposed to be really upscale and a lot of rich single men or married men looking for an affair. And Luna had some stuff to do with the Quibbler tonight. Something about a mutated Unicorn with three heads instead of one."

Hermione frowned. She knew Ginny and Harry were in a rough patch. After the war, Ginny had been hoping that Harry would come back to her but he didn't. Instead he devoted himself to teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. They saw him during the holidays and every so often when they felt like checking in, but that was it. Hermione knew that sooner or later Harry would come around for Gin but until then, she was going through some sort of unhealthy crisis.

A few blocks later they entered through a small red door just barely visible through the dark stone walls. There was no sign on the door or a bouncer. When they walked in Hermione's mouth dropped. The floor and ceiling was pure glass making it seem like they were floating in air. The tables were granite tops and candles flew around slowing casting a deep warm glow over the tables. She could see a decent amount of guys in suites sitting around the bar and a fair amount of women trying to catch their eye.

"Gin, I don't think this is our kind of place,"

"It's perfect, come on you need a drink!" Ginny ushered her to the closest bar and ordered two Crazy Eights, a mix of fire whiskey and pumpkin juice a drink that was popular around the fall season. She took a big sip, and looked around the bar examining the potential before leaving Hermione alone to go fix her makeup in the bathroom. Hermione took a sip and made a sour face. She hated fire whiskey.

Two guys walked up to her as she was about to turn and follow Ginny, not wanting to be alone. One had dark black hair and dark brown eyes. His skin was tan and glowing. He reminded her of Aladdin from her muggle fairytales as a child. The other was tall with brown curly hair. He had brown eyes and a large chest.

"Hermione is that you?" The darker man said.

Hermione studied the man until realization hit her. "Blaise?"

He smiled and reached in to give her a hug. "How have you been? I haven't seen you in like two years."

"Great, I finally got my own bookstore so life's been pretty peaceful. What about you, how's Astoria?"

"Oh we broke up ages ago. I'm not into the gold digging type anymore. By the way this is my friend Kieran, he works at the firm with me. Kieran this is Hermione we went to school together."

Hermione shook his hand politely. He was incredibly handsome but seemed uninterested in the conversation. She turned to Blaise whom she also realized was attractive in his own right and something in the pit of her stomach burned. Before the end of the war, Blaise had saved Hermione's life. He had always remained neutral, but in that moment he made the decision to get as far away from Voldemort as possible. Since then, they had become acquaintances until about two years ago when he went corporate.

There was something about him now that seemed different and unfamiliar but she pushed that thought to the back of her mind not wanting to over analyze the situation.

"Hermione who are you talking to?" Ginny asked walking up beside her.

"Blaise," she said smiling.

"And who is his friend?" Ginny asked seductively. Hermione blushed at her forwardness but Kieran seemed to enjoy it. He winked at her and held out his hand.

"Kieran, and may I say I have a special place in my heart for redheads." He said kissing her hand.

More like special place in his pants, Hermione thought.

"May I buy you another drink?" He asked Ginny.

Ginny giggled and took his hand leading him to the other side of the bar. Hermione looked after her friend and frowned. How the hell did she do that? It would take Hermione hours to even get a guy to say hi to her.

She looked at Blaise who was looking at her favorably. "Can I buy you a drink?"

Hermione nodded her head and thankfully put her disgusting drink down.

"Not a fan of fire whiskey?" He asked playfully.

"Definitely not. I don't know why Ginny got it for me when she knows I can't drink that stuff."

"Here let me get you one of my personal favorites. It's a bit of a secret though so don't ask me what's in it."

Hermione frowned. "Is this the part where you try to drug me and take me home with you?"

Blaise stared at her and tried to decide whether or not she was joking. When he saw the hint of a smile on her face he laughed and ordered their drinks.

"I'm not going to drug you, trust me I'm a gentleman. Besides, I've pretty sure I don't need drugs to get a woman I want."

Hermione looked at him and felt heat rise up in her chest. His was tall and broad and had rosy pouty lips that any girl would be envious of. She took a quick peek at his back side when he went to reach for the drinks and groaned inwardly. He was perfect and Hermione found herself wanting him to take advantage of her. Aladdin had always been her favorite prince.

She took a sip of the drink he handed her and strawberry and Kiwi and something unfamiliar hit her taste buds.

"Mhmm, this is great what is it?"

"What did I just say? It's a secret." Blaise said.

"Well it's really fruity, not really a man kind of drink." Hermione said trying to get a rise out him.

"I don't care; no one should be forced to chug down something that tastes like rubbing alcohol and Skele-growth for the sake of manliness." He smirked down at her. "And besides, I don't believe you think I'm not manly."

Hermione took a sharp inhale of breath when he came closer to her. He smelled like musk with a hint of spearmint which was intoxicating.

"So Blaise, tell me what else has been new in your life," she said quickly.

Hours and dozens of drinks seemed to pass before Hermione realized that she hadn't seen Ginny in a while. Her and Blaise had moved to one of the comfortable couches and ordered round after round of whatever his secret concoction was.

"I saw her leave with Kieran." Blaise said nonchalantly.

"Oh, well I guess she didn't feel the need to say bye."

Blaise downed the last of his glass and looked at his watch. "It's getting late, want to get out of here?"

Hermione looked at him nervously. Her vision was a bit blurry but she found that she was having a great time with him. He had opened a few buttons on his shirt and tousled his hair around making him look like he had just gotten out of a heated snog session. She never had a one night stand before but it didn't seem like a bad idea. Or she could have been overthinking the whole situation and maybe Blaise wasn't exactly inviting her to snog him but actually just wanted to leave. Damn, she needed to get her head straight.

"Sure".

They got up and Blaise left a hefty tip on the table before leading her out the bar. The sun had gone down long ago and the ally was barely lit. She stumbled on the cobblestone beneath her feet and clung unto Blaise. She was drunker than she realized and her head started to pound. Shit

"Woah there Hermione, you okay?"

"Yeah, just alibble dit dibby" she said and then snorted at herself.

Blaise laughed. "Come on let me take you home. Where do you live?"

Hermione smiled saying "573 Bloom Street. Are you going to stay the the the..."and passed out.

Sunlight hit Hermione's face like a bolt of lightning. She grumbled and flipped over. Her head felt like she had gotten hit by a bludger. She tried to recall the events of the night prior and jumped up when she realized what happened. Blaise. She had seen Blaise and gotten drunk with him. He must have dropped her off and left.

Hermione sank back into her pillows. She hadn't wanted to get that wasted for the sole reason of wanting to spend the night with him.

"Dammit Hermione" she said out loud. Why was she acting like a dog in heat. It hadn't been that long since she had gotten any physical attention, three years at the most.

Ugh, it's been forever. She thought about calling Ron to come over for the night. She was positive he wouldn't pass up an opportunity for a quick lay without any attachment but what was it about Blaise that made her want him so bad?

She looked at the clock and sighed. The best part about owning your own store was that it didn't matter if you were late.