A/N: This is an idea I've had for ages, I was just waiting for the right prompt. It's very AU. Hermione and Draco might seem a little OOC, but their common past has broken her a little, I think. As for Draco, he's obsessed with her, and obsessed with redeeming his mistakes.

Thank you to my betas: Celestia0909, TartCat207, and alixxblack. You were a great help.

There might be a sequel/ second chapter, so stay tuned. Until then, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and don't forget to leave me a review! :)

Guardian Angel

Draco knew that he was stalking her. Again. But he just couldn't take his eyes off her in that gorgeous garnet red dress. She wore her hair in an elegant updo; long curls, the colour of molten amber, framed her beautiful face.

Hermione smiled at the incredibly ugly guy who sat in front of her in the restaurant. Well, he actually wasn't that ugly, but nowhere near as handsome as Draco himself. And he was a Muggle. There was absolutely nothing remarkable about him – expensive suit, gelled hair, empty face; probably the most boring person he would ever meet. The guy seemed to be a lawyer from the firm Hermione now worked in. Not that Draco was keeping tabs on her or anything.

Draco gritted his teeth when the waiter blocked his view of Hermione and her date. He wished he had brought the extendable ears. But he hadn't. He hadn't even planned on following her today. It was just that … it was Valentine's Day, and he missed her terribly. He had wanted to step by and apologise for everything; and, most importantly, convince her to come back to him. Because he just knew they were right for each other, even if he had hurt her terribly. He hadn't done it on purpose. Draco hadn't wanted to destroy her life. It just sort of … happened.

Honestly, he hadn't really expected to fall in love with the woman. Hermione Granger – really? He could have had anybody. But no, his stupid heart wanted her. It had been so easy to fall for her.

When Draco had hatched out his plan to infiltrate the Ministry, she'd been the easy target. Alone - Weasley, the stupid, ungrateful bastard, had left her for Lavender - and desperate; married to her job, so to speak. He had expected her to fall in love with him, but he hadn't planned on developing feelings for her, too. And finally, when he had executed his plan, he'd never taken into account what it would do to her.

The waiter moved, and Draco could watch Hermione again. He marvelled in her beauty, trying in vain to read her lip movement. When he had apparated to her little flat this evening, she'd been about to leave, not even noticing him on the other side of the street. The guy, who was now sitting in front of her, had picked her up in his shiny car. Draco was sure he had seen him before.

Suddenly, a terrible thought crossed his mind. What if that was her boyfriend? At once, rage and jealousy seared through him, and he quickly took a large gulp of the Muggle whiskey he had ordered. It couldn't be. Hermione wouldn't – she couldn't! - she must know that Draco and her were meant to be. She must know how sorry he was, how much he wished to be able to turn back time, to redeem his mistakes. He would gladly go to Azkaban now if it meant saving her from her fate. But back then, he hadn't even considered it a possibility. Oh, how he regretted the decisions he had made.

He had promised her the world once, promised her heaven.

But it had been a lie.

All she had received was hell.

But Draco couldn't tell her how he felt. She hated him now. He had gone to her doorstep so many times, but never knocked. But tonight… tonight he had wanted to tell her, to beg her to come back to the Wizarding world with him. He owned enough money for the both of them, Hermione wouldn't even need to worry about finding a job. He would marry her and give all he had to her.

But he knew it wasn't in her nature to give in to something like that. She wanted to make her own way and not just be his pet wife; she wouldn't want to be like all the other pureblooded wives. He admired her for that, but he also loathed her for it because it meant she'd never forgive him. He'd tried. He'd sent her countless owls, but all his letters had come back unopened. Then she had moved away, fled, and it had taken Draco ages to find her again.

Now the woman of his dreams was wasting her time with this odious Muggle, instead of being with him.

Draco sighed audibly, and all his anger left him. It was all his own fault, he knew that. Hermione was only trying to survive, to live her life.

There was only one way he could pay for his mistakes, to make up for his grievances against her and maybe, just maybe, have a chance at redemption. He had to protect her. That's why he was stalking her.

And maybe because he needed to see her, too.

He could barely go a week without sneaking around her apartment or workplace; waiting outside for a quick peek of her. Hermione wouldn't accept any help, so he had to try helping her in secret now.

Like a guardian angel.

"… and then I fired him," Roger grinned at her as if it was an accomplishment to fire scared apprentices. "I mean, what did he expect if he constantly got the files in a muddle?"

"Yeah," Hermione agreed, trying to sound as sincere as possible. Her smile, she suspected, probably looked more like a grimace. What had she been thinking by agreeing to this date?

Well, her co-workers had somehow talked her into it, and Roger was a Junior Partner at Williams & Pond. She could ill afford falling out with him lest she surrender her chances at becoming a paralegal. But she needed the money. So she had to sit here with this utter nitwit, pretending to enjoy this horrible Valentine dinner. Like some kind of common escort.

She couldn't help but compare it with the dinner she'd had one year ago, with a person she refused to waste her time thinking about. Because if she did, it would hurt, and she didn't want to hurt anymore. It was enough that he'd destroyed her career at the Ministry, her reputation, and her life in their world. She refused to let him destroy her fresh start in the Muggle world, too.

"I love you, I promise," he'd whispered into her ears, and she'd believed him.

Promises are the biggest lies in the world, Hermione thought, bitter. And his promises most of all. Bittersweet and tempting, but in the end nothing but deceit.

To be fair, her demise hadn't been all his fault. She'd been so naïve to think Draco Malfoy would love her. Of course, he didn't. Of course, he only ever thought of his own interests – like she should have done.

But no, she had given him her heart and, more importantly, access to the Ministry files and Harry's investigations; not willingly of course. When she realised that he had used her, it had been too late. Everything was publicised, the damage done, and she'd been sacked.

If that wasn't bad enough, Hermione had had to face charges and been stripped of her Order of Merlin honours. She'd had to pay the Ministry a large sum of money as indemnification – redemption of sorts – for the damage she had caused, and she was prohibited to practice as a lawyer in the magical world in perpetuity.

After that, nobody hired her and she'd fallen into public disgrace. Even Harry had distanced himself from her. He'd constantly warned her about Malfoy, and more than once, a meeting had ended in a fight because of that. Of course, Hermione believed the reason to be his school rivalry with the Slytherin.

After Ron had left her, she'd isolated herself from the world and pushed Harry away. So when everything had blown up in her face and she'd have needed him, she came to realise that they had become strangers. The inseparable trio was a trio no longer; barely even friends.

Harry had understood that she hadn't intended to let Malfoy infiltrate the Ministry or destroy Harry's hard work and investigation into Malfoy Enterprises, but it had happened anyway. And, somehow, he hadn't been able to forgive her then. Ron could do anything, could run away in the middle of the Horcrux hunt and leave them starving and desperate, and he would be welcomed back with open arms. But not Hermione. She couldn't even be forgiven for having fallen in love with the wrong person. There was nothing she could do about it.

So, disgraced, humiliated, and desperate, Hermione had left the world she was no longer welcome in. She locked away all the things that reminded her of it: all her old textbooks, photos, robes, and potions. She wasn't connected to the Floo network and complicated wards protected her house from being found by owls. That was the only magic she allowed in her life. Granted, she had kept her wand, but she hardly ever used it. She even left it at home sometimes, to evade questions should somebody see it. Moreover, it reminded her too strongly of all that she had lost and the life she had once led.

She had to move on. As a Muggle. Working in a law firm. Going on dates with a Muggle. A 'normal' life. The life she would have had, had she never received her Hogwarts letter.

And yet, Hermione hated it. Hated it with all her heart.

She hated the mundaneness of it all; the small-mindedness of the people around her who followed the same boring routines every day; she hated that her day no longer held the same excitement that came with the magical world; and most of all, she hated how much she missed it, missed the thrill of magic flowing through her.

"Tell me more about you!" Roger demanded suddenly, startling her out of her thoughts. "We've been working together for...what? Six months? And I know nothing about you!"

"There isn't much to tell," Hermione answered curtly. "I went to school in Scotland, then university, but I dropped out before I could graduate... family problems, you know? And then, I ended up here."

Uncomfortable, she shifted on her chair and fiddled with the wine glass. She hated to be reminded of her past.

"So, you're more than just a pretty face, eh?" He laughed and Hermione could see his artificially whitened teeth. "You could definitely make it as a paralegal one day."

She had to hold back a snarky comment. She already did the work of a paralegal, she just didn't have the paygrade of one. "Let's not talk about work on a beautiful night like this," she replied with a forced smile. She reminded herself to stay calm and flirt a little - she needed that bloody job.

"It's not as beautiful as you are," Roger soft-soaped her. Did that very obvious come-on ever work on the women he went out with?

"Thanks," she choked out and tried to look flattered. Oh Merlin, when was this dreadful dinner ever going to end? She had to come up with a good excuse to not go out with him again, and definitely prevent him from staying at her place tonight. At first, she'd thought a night out might be good for her, make her forget Malfoy, but now she realised how big of a mistake it had been. Roger repulsed her; his attempt to flirt with her made her want to retch, and she only wished to be back home, curled up on the bed with a good book and some comfort food.

Merlin, were there no decent guys interested in her?

After they ate their desert, Hermione tried to imply her desire to leave. Instead, Roger ordered another bottle of overpriced wine for the table. Albeit, the wine was good, but this was her third glass and the effects of the alcohol were slowly becoming noticeable. She felt too warm and her head felt light.

Then, a terrible suspicion crept into her mind. Was Roger trying to make her drunk?

Hermione watched him while he poured her a glass. The arrogant, sleazy smile on his face, the dangerous lusty gleam in his eyes – yeah, he was definitely trying to make her drunk.

Panic-ridden and nervous, she suddenly wished she had some sober-up-potion. But of course, she didn't. She didn't even take her wand with her.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, she berated herself.

She was in a dangerous situation with a guy that could clearly overpower her, and all because she had just wanted to be normal for once, yearned to fit into the life that was pushed upon her, longed for someone to be there beside her - even if it was Roger. An evening where she wasn't utterly, desperately lonely.

"Excuse me for a second," she said, smiling sweetly. "I just need to go to the bathroom."

"Of course." Roger nodded. Her skin itched as she felt his eyes on her back the entire time she walked to the bathroom. Maybe some cold water would help to clear her head.

Draco watched as Hermione stood up and walked nervously to the bathrooms. Her date's eyes seemed to be glued to her hips, swinging as she walked - the slimy git probably thought she was being seductive. Draco knew she did it unintentionally - it was just the way she walked.

Before Draco could draw his wand to cast a well-placed itching hex to distract her date, Mr. Whats-His-Face had already turned and focused his attention on something else.

With bated breath, Draco watched as he took something out of his pocket and put it in Hermione's wine. Draco frowned. What was this guy doing? Draco wasn't familiar with Muggle drugs. If it had been a wizard, he would have bet on love potion, but he wasn't a wizard. So what else could it be? he wondered.

Whatever it was, Draco needed to get rid of it quickly, before Hermione came back. Swiftly, he stood up and strode purposefully in the direction of the bathroom, passing their table as if by accident. One silent spell later and the glass crashed to the ground as he walked by.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, sir," he apologised, feigning politeness. "I must have knocked the tablecloth."

The brown-haired man leapt to his feet and scowled at him. "This wine cost 100 pounds!"

"I'm sorry, Mr …?"

"O'Neil. Roger O'Neil," he replied between gritted teeth.

"Should I tell the waiter to put it on my check, Mr O'Neil?" Draco sneered in true Malfoy fashion.

Roger narrowed his eyes in disdain. "No. I can pay for myself. What did you say your name was?"

Draco smirked. "I didn't say. Now, if you're done making a scene, please excuse me." He fled the table as Hermione approached them, hoping that she hadn't caught a glimpse of him.

"Who was that?" Draco heard Hermione ask as he walked away with his back turned.

"Oh, no one…" Roger replied, considerably more put out than before. The rest of his response was drowned by the sound of chatter from neighbouring tables.

Making sure to be careful and not be seen by the couple, Draco made his way back to his own table. He couldn't help but feel smug about what he'd done. This guy had nothing that Draco didn't have - except that he was magnificently rude and lacked manners. Hermione couldn't fall for him.

Well, she probably hadn't or What's-His-Face wouldn't have needed such pathetic aids as drugs to 'win' her love. Draco snorted and finished his glass of whiskey. He knew, though, that he had to keep an eye on Hermione and this bloke, as it clearly wasn't beyond this man to scheme and use force to get what he wanted.

Draco mentally added this incident to his list.

He had saved her from being drugged and Merlin knows what else. That should count for something, shouldn't it? It was a baby step towards redemption. And when he had atoned for his transgressions, that would be the day that he'd look her in the eye and ask for forgiveness.

But that was still a long way away. He'd have to redeem every single lie, every broken promise, and every deceitful thing he'd done.

Maybe, one day in a still distant future, Hermione might find it in herself to forgive Draco. Maybe next Valentine's Day, or the one after that. But until that day came, he would watch over her.

Like a guardian angel.

*Written for the Houses Competition, Year 2 - Round 8*

House: Ravenclaw

Category: Themed

Prompt: Promises are the biggest lies in the world.

W/C: 2, 764