Author's note - this idea has been in my head for a while and I finally got around to writing it. It covers half a year and features Draco and Hermione as teachers in Hogwarts. McGonagall is dead and Snape is currently headmaster. Reviews are welcome as usual. Enjoy!

Draco walked down the great hall. It had been years since he had been there yet nothing had changed. Not in the physical appearance anyway. He remembered his first year - crowding outside with McGonagall before walking down to the sorting hat and being dispersed between the houses. The benches where the pupils sat were empty, but not for long. They were due to arrive within the hour and Draco was getting nervous. He hadn't been back to Hogwarts since the war; he hadn't wanted to. At the end of the hall, at the teachers' table, stood a petite brunette. He wandered over to her. She was stood with her back to him, admiring the head's chair. Snape's chair. He coughed in an attempt to get her attention. It worked. She turned around. "Malfoy?" she exclaimed.

"Granger?" he was equally surprised.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, as I'm not a teenager anymore, it would seem I am a teacher."

"You work here?" she scoffed.

"As I pointed out, I am very clearly not an acne-ridden teen anymore yet I am in a school."

"You never had acne."

"Granger, you're forgetting that we had bubotuber pus to cover up spots. Yes I did listen in forth year herbology. So much for smartest witch of the century..." he muttered

"I see you haven't lost your arrogance."

"It's all part of being a Malfoy." he smirked.

"Anyway, what do you teach?" she asked, ignoring his previous statement.

"Defence against the dark arts, you?"

"Transfiguration."

"Ahh, following in old McGonagall's footsteps, thought so."

"Yes well I always thought you'd do DADA once Snape became head."

She paused, a comfortable silence falling on them.

"You've changed Malfoy."

"So have you."

"You aren't the same prat you used to be."

"Yeah well you aren't the same frizzy haired know-it-all. Well, you're probably still a know-it-all but now there's no exams to beat me at."

"I knew you were jealous."

"Yeah well, it was more for my father. He hated me coming anything but first."

"Ahh, you're famous father. What happened to him?"

"Azkaban."

"Sorry."

"Don't be, he deserved it, self centred bastard."

"I didn't know you felt that way about him."

A silence descended on them as Draco struggled for a reply.

"Look Granger, can we just start again; pretend I wasn't such a prick to you?"

Hermione was lost for words yet her faith in change stuck firm. "Okay." she says before walking towards him and putting her hand out for him to shake. "Hermione Granger, transfiguration professor."

"Draco Malfoy, Defence against the dark arts. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

"So, you excited for the kids?" he asked, sitting on the Slytherin bench.

"Yeah. Its my first year here as a teacher and, if I'm honest, I'm quite nervous."

"I'd be worried if you weren't nervous!" laughed Draco.

"What about you?" she asked, "Aren't you nervous?"

"Yeah I am but I'm more looking forward to my new position as Head of Slytherin."

"You made Head of Slytherin?"

"Yeah, jealous Granger?" he smirked.

"Not really considering I'm Head of Gryffindor."

"Well well well, looks like we're arch enemies then..." he winked at her.

"We just have to act like enemies Malfoy, not be them." she rolled her eyes.

"Still the smart one I see." he paused "What happened to the gorms? You know, the other two-thirds of the golden trio."

"Harry and Ginny got married and Ron's probably shagging Lavender somewhere." her voice was bitter with disdain.

"Wow, I'm sorry." he said, standing next to her again. "That sucks."

"Yeah well, as he was quick to point out, we never really did go out."

"Bastard."

"What?"

"He's a bastard."

"Oh. Yeah. I know."

"Don't worry about him. I'm sure there will be an opportunity for revenge." Something flickered in his eyes as he smirked knowingly at her.

"Are you offering to help me?" she raised her eyebrow.

"Well I wouldn't be gentleman if I didn't help a lady in need."

She laughed as he continued to talk about various forms of revenge they could plan. Suddenly the pair were disturbed by a voice at the door. "Good to see Slytherin and Gryffindor finally getting along."

"Headmaster." they said in unison.

"As much as I hate to say this, you are both teachers so call me Severus." Both were quiet as they debated what to do. Luckily Snape continued to fill the silence. "The meal will begin soon so I suggest you both go and freshen up."

Hermione and Draco both nodded and quickly walked to their respected living quarters.

Their first appearance as teachers came at the welcome feast. Snape got up and said a few opening words, not as memorable as Dumbledore's, the first years were sorted and the school was introduced to Professors Malfoy and Granger. Lessons would start the next day yet everyone was keen to catch up with their friends, well almost everyone. As both Hermione and Draco were new they didn't know anyone except for each other. Snape smiled a little as he saw the new teachers talking. Although his godson had been brought up to hate muggleborns, it was plain to see that he didn't dislike Hermione, maybe he felt something else towards her. Though, he never said anything, Snape knew there was something else going on with him. Suddenly he noticed that professor Flitwick was looking at him as of he was supposed to reply. Snape nodded in agreement. This seemed to be a satisfactory response as the man continued his rant about god knows what.

Lessons the next day were mainly uneventful. Hermione had the first year Gryffindors after lunch. All of them were excited to use magic and were extremely easily impressed. There was this one boy, Matthew, who reminded Hermione of Neville Longbottom in everything he did: he was almost completely unproductive in the most simple of spells and it seemed her class wasn't the first he was late to. Unlike her predecessor, Hermione wasn't so quick to deduct points from her own house and instead asked one of the smarter students to help him. She wasn't, however, as reserved when it came to the Slytherins. Putting aside her past hatred for the house, she still seemed biased against them and took every opportunity she had to take points. Whether it was due to her time at Hogwarts or if it was because of her new role as house leader, she took more points from Slytherin than the other houses combined. While some of the younger students were too scared to argue with her, some of the older ones weren't and often took it upon themselves to stand up for the first years: losing them more points than if they'd remained quiet. It was this attitude that made her known across the school. While Snape was seen as the fearsome headmaster and Trelawney the looney fortune teller, Hermione became the Gryffindor's best friend. Draco, on the other hand, became her polar opposite. He was identical to Snape: he was biased towards Slytherin and enjoyed nothing more than picking on Gryffindors - especially first years. Sometime in October, while Hermione was showing her first years hours to turn a goblet into a mouse, Draco realised he had left his wand in her class. Rather than knocking, Draco decided it would be more appropriate to charge in and ask for his wand. As he entered Hermione stood up from her seat and looked at him pointedly. "Yes Professor Malfoy?" It seemed she had mastered McGonagall's stare as, even though he was no longer a pupil at the school, Draco almost began to squirm uncomfortably.

Regaining his posture, he answered her. "It seems I left my wand here earlier." he said with all the dignity he could muster.

Hermione found his wand on the nearly organised desk and held it out for him to collect. At that precise moment, Matthew (the student that reminded Hermione of Neville) turned his goblet into a furry caldron, complete with a tail.

"Matthew isn't it? Yes, utterly useless. Can't even perform the disarming spell." He turned to Hermione. "Good luck with that one."

Hermione looked at him for a moment before answering. "Actually, Matthew is one of my favourite students." She paused. "If I remember correctly, I'm sure it took you a while to master that particular spell as well."

Draco just about contained his humiliation. "I think you're forgetting, Granger, that I was the second in the year." He said, his air of arrogance showing itself.

"And who was top, Malfoy?" Just one look told Hermione she had pressed the right buttons. His face was contorted with embarrassment and rage. He glared at her and, with a swish of his robes, excited the classroom. The silence that had fell was broken by cheers and shouts of praise such as "Good one miss!" and "You showed him!" Hermione had a hard time quieting her class down again but, by the end of her lesson, everyone could successfully transfigure the goblet into a mouse, even Matthew.

About a week later, as Hermione sat in the staffroom laughing with Professor Flitwick, Draco walked over to her. "Granger." he said, motioning for her to follow him outside. She complied and walked into the empty corridor. "We're on duty." he said and began to walk on ahead of her.

Hermione sighed. "Draco wait." She ran to catch up with him. "Are you mad at me? Is this about what happened in my class last week because I had every right to do what I did!" Her voice got progressively louder as it echoed around the deserted hallway; waking up some of the paintings.

He spun round. "No, Granger, you didn't! You did not have to humiliate me in front of a bunch of 11 year olds. Do you know how fast this has spread? Faster than when Longbottom saw a boggart of Snape dressed in his grandmother's clothes!" This particular spectacle had occurred in her third year and had only fueled Snape's hatred towards Neville.

Hermione was confused. He had told her to act like his enemy yet when she did he hated her for it. "I thought we were meant to act as if we hate each other?" she said.

"Not like this! We were not meant to embarrass the other in front of students! Did Snape ever humiliate McGonagall?"

"She embarrassed him tons!" replied Hermione.

"No one except Slytherin liked Snape! I want everyone to look forward to my lessons because of the teacher not because it's a chance to humiliate someone!" He looked as if he was trying to maintain his dignity as she could see the tell tale of his shoulders being pushed down and his chest being puffed out.

"Draco please, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to humiliate you. I just wanted to stand up for Matthew...and to prove that I was right for the job, that I could take over from McGonagall." Both teachers had stopped walking and were now facing each other. Tears were silently rolling down her face while he stood there helplessly. It was no secret that Hermione's boggart had been McGonagall telling her she had failed. After spending about a minute in silence, staring at each other, Draco moved towards her. "What are you taking about? I can't think of anyone better to fill her shoes. How could you doubt yourself?" He put his hands on her shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. "You defeated a troll in your first year. You discovered a basilisk in your second. In your third you not only managed to use a time turner but you helped prove a convicted murderer's innocence, save a hippogriff and slapped me across the face." She laughed as she remembered his face from that day. Draco still continued though. "The year after that you saved Potter's arse more times than I care to remember while dating Viktor Krum and catching an unregistered animagus. In your fifth year you set up a secret club to teach people self defense so that they did be safe during the inevitable war and then you still managed to survive battles and curses during the next year. I have never seen anyone survive that many unforgivable curses. So don't you dare tell me you aren't right for this job Hermione Granger!" She was shocked by his outburst of appreciation and didn't even finch as he wiped her tears with his thumbs and copied her face with his hands. "I mean it Granger, you are the best and strongest person I know."

Hermione sniffled. "Thank you Draco." she said before flinging her arms round his neck and snuggling into his torso. Instead of stiffening his body, Draco carefully wrapped his arms round her and stroked her hair; their cheeks just millimetres apart.

Unknown to them Snape was just around the corner, watching as his godson comforted the smartest witch of the century. Deciding it was time to wrap things up he stepped out of the shadows and coughed loudly. "While this whole scene is highly amusing I must tell you that your patrol duty is over and that you are advised to return to your own rooms." Draco glared at him while Hermione walked off sheepishly to her room.

December came quickly and a festive buzz spread throughout the castle. Decorations were up and Hermione had already had to stop some fifth years from putting enchanted mistletoe in doorways. Soon most of the students would be returning home for the holiday. As Hermione wanted to make a good impression, she offered to stay over Yule. She was in such a good mood that she let her classes transfigure inanimate objects into various festive decorations such as tinsel, holly and even mini trees for the desks. Draco was also in a good mood and was letting some of his students make boggarts wear christmas based clothes and objects. He had even released some yule fairies into his class of fifth years. The Yule ball was coming up and, while neither Draco or Hermione had enjoyed the one in their fourth year, they were both looking forward to experiencing it as teachers. Being teachers, Draco and Hermione were not obligated to worry about dresses or, more importantly, to find a date. Hermione had gone with the quiddich player Viktor Krum while Draco had gone with his girlfriend Pansy. Both their dates were long gone in different countries now and neither were really missed. This time Snape had requested both teachers attend and be appropriately dressed. Draco had moaned a little at this but had reluctantly agreed.

The night of the ball came and Draco and Hermione ended up alone in the corner by the non-alcoholic, never-ending punch bowl. They had both dressed up (on Snape's orders). Hermione was in a blue, strapless dress that stopped at her knees and Draco was in black dress robes. They watched as the head boy and girl opened the ball with a dance and then as couples from all years joined with the celebration. Suddenly Draco turned to her, his hand held out. "May I have this dance?" She smiled and took his hand as he led her down to the dance floor. She was surprised by how elegant and graceful he was. Sure, she knew he had probably had dance lessons when he was younger but she never thought he would be that good. They glided across the room effortlessly, both smiling and laughing. Next was a slow song. Just one look at Hermione told Draco that she wanted to continue dancing so he let her. She rested her head on his chest and they swayed in time to the music. Both teachers knew the rumours that would start but neither really cared, after all, they were only children. They also knew that some of the teachers would speak, admittedly most would keep their thoughts to themselves but some would prefer to gossip and speculate. Right now though these inevitables didn't matter. Looking down at the woman in his arms, Draco bowed his head and whispered in her ear. "You know, if we weren't at a ball filled with gossips I'd be tempted to kiss you." Hermione blushed but smiled secretly to herself; choosing to bury her head further in his chest then face him. Draco chuckled at her response.

The end of the ball came quickly after that and Draco and Hermione watched as pupils started to file out of the hall. Teachers were also leaving but Hermione had insisted on helping the house elves tidy up; reluctantly, Draco had agreed. The tidying was done about an hour later and all that was left to do was to go to bed. "Granger, I'm not letting you walk back alone." he said sternly.

"I'm not 6, you don't have to hold my hand as I'm crossing the road either."

Ignoring the fact that he didn't know what a road was, Draco still wouldn't take no for an answer. "I don't care how old you are, I'm walking you back to your dorm."

Hermione eventually gave in: if only for him to stop moaning.

They made their way up the stairs to Hermione's dorm room, leaving a trail of angry portraits as they went. As they reached the door Draco grabbed Hermione's wrist gently. She turned to look at him, her free hand now holding his. Their faces were now an inch apart. She could feel his breath on her neck and it was making all her hairs stand on end. "I'll be honest Granger, the only reason I wanted to walk you back was so that I could do this." Before Hermione had a chance to respond she felt his lips on hers. Realising what was happening, she deepened the kiss. Her arms snaked round his neck and her hands tangled themselves in his platinum blond hair. He responded to her unexpected reply by wrapping his arms around her waist and letting them rest in the small of her back, bringing her closer to him. When they finally stopped kissing Draco lent his forehead on hers, letting their noses touch slightly. "Draco?" she said, a hint of a question in her tone. "Why did you do that?"

"I could ask you why you kissed me back and you'd say the same as me. I like you Hermione Granger and I always have done."

"I like you too Draco Malfoy."

Up in his office Snape shouted himself a smile at the surprising yet not unexpected couple before turning his attentions to his next plan: How to scare Draco into telling him...