Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter
Hermione felt the sun's rays on her back. She opened her eyes, pushing her arm under her pillow. She stared at her lavendar wall, the conversation from last night creeping into her head again.
"So you're saying he didn't recognize you?" Ginny asked, wrapping her fingers around her teacup.
"No, he didn't. Don't you think if he did he wouldn't have tried what he did last night?" Hermione said, looking at her friend intently.
"It's been five years since the war, Hermione. Things have changed."
Hermione sighed. "It doesn't matter, Gin. Yes, it's been five years, but some opinions remain in place."
"Excuse me, Hermione, but did you not hear what I told you earlier? About Draco carrying on a conversation with us and attempting to shake Ron's hand?"
"Yes, well-"
"No. Believe it or not, Hermione, but the man's changed. Do you know what he's been doing all these years?"
"No..."
"Researching a cure for the after effects of the Cruciatus curse for Merlin's sake!"
"Oh," Hermione said, biting her lip.
"Oh," Ginny said, smiling. "Yes, Mr. Almost-Killed-Dumbledore, Death Eater himself."
"That's pretty remarkable," Hermione admitted, nodding her head. "What about his family, Ginny? Draco might've changed, but his entire family grew up only knowing one way to life. Do you know how much they'd disapprove if anything happened? The names they'd call me? Or the reaction the rest of the wizarding community would have?"
"Who says he'll care what they think if he's fallen in love? And maybe you two would be an example to the community, Hermione. You can't always look on the bad side of things."
"I don't know, Gin," Hermione said, another sigh escaping her lips. "I'm too afraid to take that risk. He's not in love with me. I won't have to tell him a thing."
"What? You're not going to tell him your name? You already told him where you live! He's not stupid, Hermione."
"I know he's not, but he'll never step foot in here. He's not going to be searching for me or anything. It was one night, one dance," she said, looking at the red head. "I'm not going to risk his reputation, or mine for that matter, just because he thought I was pretty."
"What if he falls in love with you, Hermione?"
Hermione was quiet for a few moments. "I'm not going to worry about that, Gin. I won't give him the chance to. I'm not making any plans to be alone with him anytime soon. He won't be able to."
"But what if he does?"
"If that happens... I'll have to tell him the truth."
Ginny furrowed her brow. "Anything could happen, Hermione. He knows we're your friends, he'll know it's you. We're all friends now."
"That's another thing, Gin," Hermione said, looking down at her cup. "I don't want you to tell anybody about Draco and I and I don't want anyone, aside from you guys, to know I'm back."
"Someone will recognize you, dear," Ginny said raising her eyebrows.
"If they do, I'll tell them who I am. But I don't want Malfoy to ever find out it was me he almost kissed. There's too much risk. Please, Gin."
Ginny narrowed her eyes slightly. "Alright, Hermione. I'll let the others know you're here, but that's all. No one else will ever know."
Hermione buried her face in her pillow. She pushed herself out of bed and walked over to her dresser, pulling out a pair of panties and a bra. She made her way to the bathroom, turning on the shower faucet. She peeled her pajamas off and let the warm water cascade down her back. She closed her eyes, sighing, as she stuck her face under the shower head.
If I'm able to pull this off, it'll be a miracle.
Draco pulled a pair of grey slacks over his silk black boxers, fastening a black belt around his waist. He walked over to his closet, pulling out a sky blue button down shirt. He left a few buttons undone, to show off part of his chest. He rolled the sleeves up to his elbows as he walked into to his bathroom, glancing at his reflection. He sighed.
After he left his parents home last night and laid his head on his pillow, his dreams were filled with the image of her face. He blamed his restless night on her beautiful face. The only intention he woke up this morning with, was to find her.
He took a last look at himself in the mirror and then apparated just outside the Manor's boundries, and walked up his parent's driveway.
"Morning Mother," he said, as he walked into the dining area.
"Draco," she said, swallowing her food. "Didn't expect to see you this morning."
"Please, Mother. I always greet my parents in the morning."
"Business to attend to this morning, son?" Lucius said from behind his paper.
Draco cleared his throat. "Er, well, yes, actually."
"Ah," Lucius said, folding his paper, setting it down on the table. "More research?"
"Yes, I guess you could call it that."
"I see," he said, glancing at his wife. "Did you enjoy the party last night?"
"It was quite dull, to be honest," he said, narrowing his eyes. "I talked to Potter and his wife some, but other than that..."
"Yes, well," Narcissa said, sipping her tea innocently, "We had hoped you'd enjoy it. But I guess not," she paused, setting her cup down. "I couldn't help but notice, Draco, the lovely young witch you spent most of the evening with."
Draco scoffed. "I knew it, Mother. You should have just asked me about her and skipped the small talk."
"Well forgive me for having manners," she huffed. "I'd expect, as my son, you'd have manners as well, especially when speaking to me."
"Yes, Mother," he said, sighing.
"So? Who is she?"
Draco cleared his throat. "Well, she resides in Ottery St. Catchpole."
"And?"
"And... I have business to attend to," he said, kissing the top of her head.
Narcissa opened her mouth to speak, but Draco had disappeared. "Well," she said, looking at her husband.
"That's our son; business first," he said, picking his paper back up.
"Don't be silly, Lucius," Narcissa said, spooning jam on her bread. "He's going to look for the lovely young maiden he met last night."
Hermione scanned the books in front of her, her fingers sliding across the row. She bit her lip in frustration.
"He said it'd be right here," she muttered to herself, looking up and down the shelf. She stood on her tiptoes, but it was no use; she was too short to see the top shelf. She sighed, turning around to seek some assistance. She came face to face with blue.
"Miss Catchpole," a voice said.
Hermione's eyes widened and her mouth formed an "O." . "Mr. Malfoy. You frightened me."
He laughed. "My last intention, Miss. Forgive me."
She nodded. "You are forgiven, sir," she said, smiling.
"Must I remind you to call me Draco?" he asked looking down at her. He felt her body heat radiating onto his skin from the closeness, and smelled her lavendar scent.
"Draco," she said, turning her attetnion back to the books.
There was an akward silence between the two, as he watched her bite her lip, and stare at the book infront of her face. Clearing his throat, he said, "Looking for anything in particular?"
"Well," she hesitated, "a book."
"Obviously," he said, chuckling.
She smiled. "Yes, a book. An Articulate Expression on Sixteenth Century Potions."
"Perhaps I can help," he said, looking at her. She had moved down a ways, looking up.
"That would be lovely."
"But you have to promise me something," he said, standing beside her, crossing his arms, looking up at the top shelf.
"Yes?"
"If I find it first, you must have tea with me."
"And if I find it first?"
"Well," he said, smiling,"I'll ask you to have tea with me and you can decide if you want to go or not yourself."
She smiled. "Sounds fair."
"Great," he said, reaching for a book, pressing it into her hands. "As soon as you pay for this, we'll be on our way."
She was surprised again, but then laughed as she took the book. "You're sneaky," she said, grinning up at him. "But I'll have tea with you anyway."
"You haven't a choice, madam," he said smirking.
She rolled her eyes and walked to the register. Draco leaned casually against the book shelf, admiring her. She had chosen a white sundress today, one that showed off her smooth, tan legs, with white sandals on her feet. Her hair was left down, soft brown ringlets tumbling down her back. His breath escaped him once again.
She looked over at him and he went to her, placing his hand on the small of her back, leading her out; he didn't remove his hand as he lead her to Tea Thyme. They chose to sit at a table outside, considering the weather was agreeable. A waiter promptly served them and Hermione chose Bigelow Lemon tea, while Draco stuck with traditional. He ordered a sample platter for the two of them, smiling at her the entire time. Hermione returned his smile as two cups of tea and a platter was set before them a few moments later.
"Thank you for finding my book," she said after a minute, reaching for a scone.
"Not a problem," he said, biting into a cherry pastry. "You look lovely today."
She blushed. "Thank you. So, what do you do, Draco?"
He sat his teacup down and looked over at her. "Well, I'm a bit into research."
"Really? Working on anything in particular?"
He smiled. "I'm actually trying to find a cure for the after effects of the Cruciatus curse."
"That's interesting. Why did you choose that?"
"Well," he said, noticing her intrest in the subject, "When the war ended, I decided to change my lifestyle. I'd been raised all my life to believe blood was everything, that being a Death Eater was my goal in life. After being hit with the curse myself a few times, I realized that I was tired of it, and wanted change. So, after the war, I moved on, left the country. But I was reminded nearly every week of my past, because of terrible nightmares, or phantom pains. I figured it wasn't just me experiencing such things, and after asking around, I found it to be true. So, after about a year, I decided to do some exstensive research to solve my problem. I hired a team, and we've been working on it for these past five years."
"Have you had any luck?"
"A few times. We've come close many times, but the magic never lasted. I decided to come back to Britan, to see if my solution exsisted here."
"I see," Hermione said, looking at her cup. "You said you were raised to believe blood was all that mattered. Is that true now? I mean, I would assume it was true, but..."
Draco leaned back in his chair. "I know, ex-Death Eater thing. The past five years has really helped me see that there's more to people than just blood. Everybody's blood is the same. They have different personalities, different features that make them beautiful," he paused. "If I could, I would apologize to every person I hurt in my lifetime. Nobody deserved anything we did to them."
Hermione gazed at his face, her eyes showing her surprise. "Your parents?"
"Well," he said, clearing his throat. "They've accepted the change around them, but the ideas are still deeply embedded in their mind. One of these days, I hope, they'll change," he looked in her surprised chocolate eyes. "Why the interest?"
Hermione crossed her legs and took a sip of her tea. "I had a... friend who wasn't treated with the respect she deserved because her parents weren't the ideal figures."
"Well, things have changed. I'm sure she's getting along fine now. I'd treat her right, and I'm a Malfoy. That's something."
She grinned. "Indeed. I must say, Draco, you're not at all what I thought you'd be like now."
"I'm glad you think that," he said, placing his arms on the table, leaning on them. "You must reward me somehow."
"What would you like, Mr. Malfoy?" she asked, leaning on the table, her face inches from his.
"I want," he whispered, his eyes on her lips, "A name."
"A name?" she asked, leaning back.
"A name," he said, "A name from you so I can address you properly."
She smiled. "Well, I suppose I owe you that much," she paused, looking at her hands. "If it makes you feel better, you may address me as Carissa Taylor."
"Carissa?" he said, smiling. "Lovely."
She felt a blush creep to her cheeks once again, the butterflies fluttering like mad in her stomach. "It's just a name."
"But a lovely name, none the le-"
"Draco Malfoy! What in Merlin's name are you doing with her?!"
Yay for chapter two! I already had some favorites and alerts on this story! That's pretty exciting. Anyway, I hope I did well on this chapter and that you enjoyed it! I'm hoping for at least 10 more reviews before I update the next chapter! :D Enjoy!