Someone to Watch Over Me

Hermione blinked against the light and moaned. "Owww, why…?"

"Good morning," a voice said above her.

Her breath stopped in her throat and she slowly opened one eye. There he was…in the same clothes she was pretty sure he was wearing last night. As if a hangover wasn't bad enough. "You've got to be joking," she groaned.

He held a small bottle out to her. "Drink this," he ordered quietly. "You'll feel better."

"How do I know you're not trying to poison me?" she mumbled even though she knew that he wouldn't. She recalled him walking her home last night…which would explain his presence this morning. Someone who would do that probably wouldn't try to poison her in the morning. Wait…he was still there. "Did you stay…here…with me?"

Draco cocked an eyebrow and smirked. That couldn't be a good sign. "Just drink it. You made this potion," he added when she still looked at him dubiously.

Right, her instant cure for a hangover. Somehow she hadn't had herself in mind when she had created that one. "Fine," she sighed and took the bottle and took a sip. "Oi, I probably could've made that taste better."

He scoffed. "There has to be some punishment for drinking."

She sat up and looked around her room, trying to find any clue as to what had happened the previous night. She remembered walking into the flat, taking off her outer layer of clothes and falling into bed. She hoped that was all that happen. It was all pretty foggy.

"You were drinking too," she retorted…more than a little delayed.

"No," he said from the other room. (She hadn't realized he'd moved.) "I bought a pint, but I didn't drink it." He wanted to add that he'd also bought her a pint that she had proceeded to down in less than five minutes even though she had already been quite inebriated.

"Then why did you buy it?"

"Because I didn't want to look like a stalker," he mumbled. He folded the last blanket and sat it on the end of the couch where he had slept.

Hermione poked her head around the corner, looking much more alive than she had a few minutes before. "But you were a stalker," she argued. She was clearly feeling better. "You slept on my divan?"

He rolled his eyes at the angry tinge in her voice. This was exactly why he stayed away from alcohol; it made people make bad decisions…then forget that they had made them. A very annoying combination. "You wanted me to stay," he said simply.

"Why?" she asked, a little softer that time.

He looked her directly in the eyes and he could tell that she was a little unnerved by it. That hadn't exactly happened a lot between them in their past interactions. "I don't know, but you seemed very set on it. And you gave me blankets, so I stayed."

She broke eye contact with him. His eyes were too intense for her current state of mind. But it was slowly coming back to her. She didn't want to be alone and it was easy to pretend that Draco was someone else because he wasn't acting like the boy who had been so cruel to her in school. He was actually like a nice guy. So she had wanted him to stay…she'd wanted to go asleep knowing that she wasn't alone.

"Thank you," she whispered and she meant it. Despite what he said about making amends, he had no obligation to her.

He nodded. "You're welcome, but I need to go. I have lunch with my mother."

He turned to leave and for some reason the gesture sparked a memory in her…very recent memories. There were a couple evenings that she didn't remember getting from the barstool to her bed… "Wait," she yelled. "Why do I have the sinking suspicion that you've done this before?"

He stopped with his back to her. "I just walked you home. You didn't recognize me."

"Thank you."

He took another step but paused. "I have plans tonight. Please stay home." Then he left, closing the door behind him.

Hermione fell back and plopped down onto her sofa. The potion was just about done working its magic because her brain seemed to be getting clearer by the second. Apparently that happened; this was the first time she was experiencing it for herself. The other times she'd felt this way she hadn't had the where with all to take it. But now she could see things clearly…only they still didn't make sense.

She stared at the closed door. Draco Malfoy had walked her home three times. Draco Malfoy had spent the night on her couch just because she had asked him to. Draco Malfoy, the former death eater and generally horrid person, was willingly helping her without seeming to want anything in return. This proved it; the world no longer made sense…as if she hadn't known that already. If the world made sense she wouldn't be alone…if the world made sense he would still love her…

She shook her head and tried to shake the cold, dark feelings that always overcame her when she dwelled on what had happen too long. There was work to be done and a company to be launched. The clock on the wall read half past ten; she had a meeting with a store owner from Paris at one. It was time to make herself look presentable and get to work. This was important and she couldn't mess it up…like she'd done with everything else recently.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"I'm so excited about 'zis!" the middle aged store owner said with an enthusiastic smile. He shook her hand energetically. "I probably won't be able to keep it on zee shelves."

Hermione smiled and thanked him, pretending like she thought he was complementing her products. She knew it was because she had put her name on the label. Anything with the name of one of the saviors of the magical world was flying off the shelves. Store keepers still could keep a good stock of the book she had written chronicling the time the three of them had spent evading the death eaters and snatchers before the final battle. It was how she still paid for her apartment when her company was costing more money than it was bringing in at the moment.

No matter his motivation, it was still a step in the right direction. Stores all over England were launching her line next week and this store was the proverbial foot in the door for the French market. After Paris she would try for New York and Moscow. If her name was known internationally then perhaps her products soon could be too.

She looked around her office and sighed, falling back into her chair. There were so many pictures smiling and laughing back at her from her school days and one even from a couple months ago. But they only made her feel more alone. There was one of Ron and Her with Harry and Ginny the night that Harry had proposed. They all looked so happy but she knew it had been a lie. Ron's arm was around her shoulders and his eyes were looking over at her with a smile on his face; it was the picture of the perfect boyfriend.

But he wasn't.

She felt a hot tear roll down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. She was done crying over him. She was done with him. She inhaled deeply and leaned back in her chair. Last night was the final straw. She was taking her life back today. She quickly grabbed piece of parchment and wrote a note to Harry and Ginny to meet her for dinner in Diagon Alley. She wanted to celebrate.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Hermione, that's brilliant! I'm so happy for you!" Ginny practically squealed when Hermione told her the news.

"That's great, Hermione, really," Harry agreed, without the squealing.

She smiled. It was good to be with them again and having fun. "It's really good. It's one of the oldest shops in Paris and it's a really good start to going international."

The three of them had dinner and Hermione stuck to her butterbeer for the evening. She hadn't realized how much she had missed them the past two weeks. It was nearly midnight when server brought them dessert nearly an hour and a half after they had finished their dinner.

That was when she saw it. The back of a platinum head stepped out of the door and it quickly closed behind him. But she knew it couldn't have been anyone else.

"Would you excuse me for a moment?" she begged quickly as she stood and followed him out the door.

He was clearly about to Apparate when she yelled to get his attention. He froze.

"What're you doing here?" she asked before he even turned around.

When he did turn he just looked at her guiltily.

"Malfoy?"

He looked down for a moment then looked back to her eyes. "Please call me Draco."

She crossed her arms. He was changing the subject when she hadn't even brought it up yet. "Draco, what're you doing here?"

He shrugged. He wanted to show her that he had changed since their school days but she wasn't making it easy. She of all people could bring out the little bits of the old him that still existed. "It's after midnight, I was just checking."

She nodded. He was becoming more of a puzzle every time she met him. "I'm fine. I've been drinking butterbeer and pumpkin juice all evening."

He nodded. "I'll be leaving then."

"You owe me an explanation," she said firmly, but there was a hint of a smile on her lips.

He sighed. This was the point when he always got frustrated. He was only trying to help her, only that, but she didn't seem to believe that. It almost made one want to go back to being horrid. "I'm only trying to help you, Hermione."

"I know," she said quickly, letting her smile grow so he would understand that she wasn't angry. "But you still owe me an explanation."

He sighed again, nodded and disappeared. Her explanation would have to wait because he had people waiting on him.

Hermione watched him disappear and headed back into the restaurant with the smile still on her lips. It was oddly nice to know that she had someone watching over her for once, even if it was some new incarnation of Draco Malfoy.