Disclaimer: I am not and therefore never will be J.K. Rowling; and as such the story I shall post consists of my own plot, and borrowed Characters from J.K.

Chapter 2: Remembrance

Hermione knelt in front of a black marble grave stone, edged in gold lettering were the words:

In Loving Memory of

Thomas Granger- died 13 Oct 2006; aged 54

And His Beloved Wife

Jane Rose Granger- died 13 Oct 2006; aged 51

"Certa Bonum Certamen"

Hermione could hear raised voices in the area she had previously vacated. Knowing it was the Malfoy, she sighed. 'What a change; Draco Malfoy arguing.'

A shrivelled bouquet of flowers sat in one of the flower holders at the base of the stone. She stared at the dead flowers for a few seconds and as if by magic, their wilting state ceased and they bloomed back to their original, lilac, cream and yellow flower heads.

"The trick is to keep watering them," Draco's smooth baritone voice informed, as he lowered his wand back to his pocket.

"I was leaving that up to the Great British weather." Hermione quipped ,causing Draco to give a low chuckle; a sound which Hermione found hypnotic and soothing sending chills up her arms. "But since when do you have an intrigue to Herbology?"

"Well I'll be the first to admit, Mandrake roots can put anybody off Herbology, but it links in well with Potions." Hermione didn't say anything else for a few minutes, so Draco changed the subject; "What happened?" Hermione snapped her attention up to Draco who simply pointed to the grave headstone. "Your parents. I thought you hadn't seen them since second year?"

She turned her attention back to the stone moving her wand in a circular motion and wreath formed at the centre of the gravestone near the base. "After we left Hogwarts, I found them," she answered vaguely, not going into any serious details answering his actual question.

"Why are you here? Crying?" he queried, once again changing the subject. An attempt, which she ignored, and chose to remain silent.

"So you don't want to talk about it? Fine, I take it the reason is Weaselbee?" Draco knew mentioning Ron Weasley would promote some form of a reaction from this particular Witch, whether she would say he was wrong, go on the defensive, or be silent. Either way he'd know his answer. She chose the third option, choosing to remain facing the gravestone, not speaking. "That's a yes then."

"Why do you care anyway, Malfoy? I'm a nuisance to you; a thorn in the side of all pure blood families!" she snapped angrily, standing to her full height of 5'6" under Draco's 6'.

"You know that's not true… you're not a nuisance to me. And by pure bloods do you mean Weasley? He be damned he doesn't speak for the rest of us!" His voice cracked at the end of his monologue but Hermione didn't notice; she had tears coming freely down her cheeks again.

Draco felt a sharp pain in his heart. To see this Witch in such agony was almost unbearable, so Draco did the one thing he knew calmed his mother. Taking her in his arms, he cradled Hermione's head softly, shushing her until she was calm. He stood there, simply holding her, running his fingers through her soft auburn curls for a few minutes, smelling her sweet raspberry scent. 'She smells so good and she fits perfectly to my body,' he thought, letting his mind wonder.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear Hermione's muffled call or feel her pull away from him. "Draco?" she asked as she wiped her eyes again "I'm sor-, I'm sorry, I was… um out of-"

Draco shook his head as he came out of his stupor, "It's alright, I was the one out of line. I know you're a married woman and I shouldn't of… taken advantage you, even if was a comforting cuddle… please forgive me." He looked towards the floor. 'What the hell? Since when do I ask for forgiveness? And since when do I say cuddle? Do I care about taking advantage of a woman? No, it's not in me to not take advantage of something available to me; she's the first one I've ever done this with. I'm getting too soft…'

"I needed it…" she said looking towards the ground.

"Why did you need it?"

She shook her head, looking him in the eyes before posing another question; "Why do you care?"

Draco thought for a moment; 'Could I tell her the truth? Wouldn't that make me vulnerable?' "Seeing any woman this upset would make me ask" 'Yeah right!' his head screamed. "But you…" he trailed."Suffice to say that I do care. But obviously you don't want my help, so I won't force it. I never force a woman to do anything." 'Well that's not completely true, but they do end up enjoying it in the end' He thought as he began walking away.

He knew he was walking uncharted territory; usually, they were on neutral ground and he always had some way of avoiding her in situations like this, however today was not one of those days. Draco Malfoy could get away with lying to almost anyone, including some teachers, but there were a hand full of people he couldn't lie to: His Father, His Mother, Professor Severus Snape, the now deceased Professor Albus Dumbledore, Professor Minerva McGonagall and the Witch that currently stood in front of him.

"What did you mean?" Hermione asked. Draco turned to look at her not stopping his walk. "Before, when you said 'but you', meaning me?"

The ever so inquisitive Hermione know-it-all Granger just had to ask. During their years at Hogwarts, Hermione wasn't one for gossip, mainly because it had some baring on the Golden Trio, but also because that wasn't the type of knowledge she wanted, nay needed to know; Very unlike her best best-friend or sister-in-law, Ginny Potter, nee Weasley. No wonder she got a job working for a newspaper. That girl was full of scandalous secrets, not just which Witches were dating, sleeping with or cheating with which Wizards, but also had insight into the affairs of Muggle celebrities. In the words of a Muggle film Hermione and Ginny once watched, "That's why her heads so big, it's full of secrets!"

However, the piece of gossip that Draco wished to be kept hidden was one that Hermione needed to know. She chased after Draco, who was stepping in long strides. Gripping his upper arm, she used her momentum to twist her body so she now stood in front of him. Her right arm gripped tightly at his left to steady herself while his right hand supported her at her waist. "What did you mean?" she probed again.

He looked towards her. "You wouldn't answer me," he shrugged, his smirk gracing his face. Hermione looked directly into his eyes as he gazed into the distance and she knew he was lying through his front teeth. Experience told her that if he didn't want to tell her, he wouldn't.

After a few seconds his eyes flitted down to meet hers and Hermione felt her heartbeat increase tenfold. Another involuntary shiver found its way down her body, making her unconsciously rub her arms. Draco broke the eye contact at her action.

"Cold?" he asked as he shrugged off his coat and placed it carefully around Hermione's shoulders. She snuggled closer to the fabric as it brought unbelievable amounts of warmth, and breathed in his masculine scent, an outdoorsy smell of wood. He glanced at his watch before looking towards the sky.

"It's getting late and looks like it might rain later. We should get indoors." Hermione could only nod. "Do you have somewhere to stay tonight?" Hermione was about to answer 'home', but remembered the reason she was out here in the first place, so she shook her head. "Well you can stay with me and Scorpius." Hermione was about to refuse when Draco added "I won't take no for an answer."

Draco placed his arm over Hermione's shoulder, as he stood to her side. They walked slowly towards the area where Scorpius was waiting before the trio Side-Along Apparited.