Ron watched Hermione nervously from across the living room. Her eyes darted across the pages of the well worn book in her dainty hands. He couldn't even make out the name of the book on the spine it was so old. If there was one thing he knew about Hermione it was her love of old novels, she had probably read the one in her hands a million times before. He sighed audibly causing Hermione to pause suddenly a look up at him. He smiled crookedly.

Hermione shut her book loudly, "can I help you with something?" she was clearly annoyed, and being interrupted in the middle of a book was not the way to get on Hermione's good side

"No, No. I'm good" Ron smiled again, Hermione shook her head and peered back at her book. "Well I did want to talk to you about something..."

She closed her book again and gave him another look of annoyance "what would you like to speak to me about?"

Ron cleared his throat awkwardly "its about Malfoy you see"

"What about him?" Hermione tucked her fist under her chin in faux interest.

"You've been spending a lot of time with him lately"

Hermione couldn't believe he was brining that up, "He's injured!"

Ron didn't look convinced "so he says"

"Ronald you can clearly see the injury" she was dumbfounded

"I still don't like how close he's getting to you"

Hermione stood from her chair and began to walk out of the room "I'm not having this conversation anymore"

She needed to get out of this crowed house, Ron and Harry were her best friends but she had spent long enough by their side. A caged bird, that's what she felt like. The stairs creaked as she walked up the stairs, the room she shared with Malfoy seemed to be her only sanctuary in this place. When she opened the door, the room was empty. The covers on her bed, which Malfoy had taken over, were strewn about as if they had been thrown off his body without care. Her eyes scanned over the room quickly, nothing had changed since she left this morning. The curtains to the single window in the room were billowing strongly in the wind. Slowly, she walked toward the open window and stuck her head out to find Malfoy sitting on the small ledge.

"Do you have a death wish?"

He turned his head halfway, not fully looking at her "not particularly"

"This house is really old, that wood could give out at any moment"

"I'm a lightweight; don't worry your pretty little head about it" Hermione rolled her eyes, even though he wasn't looking at her. "It's a nice view from out here"

"I can see fine from here"

Draco shrugged "suit yourself"

Hermione sighed and climbed out the window. She had after all done far more dangerous things with Harry and Ron. The ledge was smaller than she expected, so she found herself closer to him then she was used to. The sight was beautiful though, all the London houses made a very scenic view.

"I should be leaving soon"

"You can stay as long as you want" Hermione looked at him even though he wasn't facing her. As he looked off into the distance she admired his profile.

"I need to move on with life already" his voice sounded so tender it calmed her previously frazzled nerves

"What are your plans?"

Now he looked over at her, another wind blew causing her curls to move about her face. He smiled remembering how he once hated hair, now he wanted nothing more than to run his fingers through it. "I suppose I'll find a flat first, sell the old manor, and figure out what I want to do for a career. Honestly I thought the war would either kill me or I'd end up in Azkaban"

Hermione nodded, "I know what you mean, and the war consumed so much of my childhood I'm not sure what to do from here. I do need to get out of here soon"

Draco raised his brow, "I never thought I'd hear you say you want to leave those two"

She laughed softly, "Like you said life needs to move on"

"Come on, let's head inside" Draco stood and held out his hand to her, she eyed it carefully before slipping her hand in his. As he pulled her up she was surprised at how soft the skin on his hands was. Both standing, they were so much closer. His masculine scent filled her nostrils, she had to stop herself from leaning into it. Draco was smiling down at her as if he knew her secret, she blushed and quickly climbed back through the window.

The leaky cauldron was full of sociable witches and wizards who's voices over powered the small tavern. Hermione admired the scene from her seat in the corner, across the table from her Draco too was looking around the crowd.

"I forgot how lively this place could be" he noted

Hermione nodded, wondering how he had convinced her to let him take her here "it's quite the place"

"Lucius never let me come here when I was a child" he looked at her now, his voice somber

"Why?" she was surprised

Draco shrugged and leaned back in his seat, "he said it wasn't good enough for our kind. We went to private bars for drinks"

"I see" she diverted her eyes and smiled at the waiter walking towards them with their food. Draco eyed the waiter carefully as he set their meals down on the table, Hermione thanked him with a wide smile before looking back at him to see the sour look on his face. "What?"

"He seemed friendly" it was easy to trace the bitterness in his voice

"Malfoy don't start that protective crap with me I get it enough from Ron and Harry"

Draco leaned forward "oh yea?"

"Ron seems to think you have a motive to romance me or something silly like that"

After taking a sip of his butter beer he responded, "I wonder where he could have gotten that idea"

Hermione shrugged and started to eat her soup. Draco looked across the bar again and saw the waiter gazing at their table. He gave the man a stern look to let him know he wasn't allowed near Hermione. None of this was noticed by Hermione who was happy to have warm food in her stomach in an environment other than grimmauld place. Looking around again Draco saw the waiter wasn't the only one who had noticed the Gryffindor princes. He could tell by the look in each mans eyes they were carefully observing the interactions between himself and Hermione.

"Granger?" He put his hand on hers, she looked down at it then at him questioningly "this is it for me, I'm leaving tonight"

"Where are you going?"

"I've made some arrangements for the time being"

Hermione didn't like how vague he was being, "I suppose that's all you're going to tell me"

Draco shrugged, "it's not really important"

Her heart sank in her chest, didn't he understand that he was a part of her life now. Malfoy was stubborn, she knew that. If he had made a plan then that was what he was going to stick with. It didn't matter what she wanted, or how this was going to affect her. He wasn't even looking at her anymore, his eyes were scanning the crowd. Maybe he did feel guilty, his hand was still touching hers. His ivory complexion seemed to glow like the moon, against her golden skin this was even more apparent.

Looking back up she met his cool gaze. It was so hard to read his expressions, so unlike Ron or Harry. No, Draco was always more of a mystery, perhaps that was why she felt so drawn to him now. Years of torment and here she was sitting in a pub with him. Hermione had never hated him though, he had hurt her often as a child. She had wanted him to be nice to her, like he was now.

"Why were you so mean to me?"

This question caught him off guard, she could see it in his face. "I thought I was being rather civil"

She shook her head, "in school"

"I had to be" she looked at him in surprise, it was that simple for him. He sighed softly, "when I was a young I was just as influential as any other child, even you. Whatever my parents told me was the truth I accepted without thought. Even when they said we were better than everyone else because our blood was…pure" he looked away for a moment as if to compose himself "I won't apologize for believing in my parents, even though now I know how wrong it is." His hand moved from hers to brush across her cheek, "I don't care where you came from Hermione, I'll be the first to admit you're a better person than I am"

"You said my name" she had wide eyes

Draco leaned back and chuckled "I suppose I did" Hermione was still looking at him, "you haven't touched your food yet"

Her features seemed to soften "neither have you"

Draco nodded and purposely took a bite out of the sandwich he had ordered. Hermione seemed pleased and delved into her soup as well. Although he was eating his mind began to wonder about the lady in front of her. Being around her made him feel so alive, even now the awareness of her made his skin tingle with delight. The way she looked at him, he couldn't help but hope that she felt the same way. But then again how did he know she didn't give Ron or Harry the same glances. He instantly felt his mood darken at the thought.

"Can I ask you something sort of personal?" he asked carefully

Hermione blotted her mouth with a napkin, "I suppose"

"Did you ever date Ron or Harry"

"No" her head shook lightly as she spoke "why do you ask?"

Draco shrugged trying to look casual, "Just curious, there were always rumors while we were in school"

"oh," her eyes drifted down for a moment "I've never really had time for romance, not that anyone's ever really been interested"

Draco was shocked at how self conscious she sounded, "I doubt that's true"

"It doesn't matter now, I did what I had to do and now we can all move on" She took another sip of her soup as if to signify she didn't want to talk about the subject anymore

"Would you have dated a Slytherin?" he gave her a look of complete seriousness

Hermione chewed on her lip for a moment, "I never judged people by what house they were sorted into"

He leaned forward of his elbows, "so you would?"

"I don't see why it matters , we're not in school anymore" she started to toy with one of her curls

He realized she was uncomfortable, "I didn't mean to bother you I was just wondering"

Suddenly her eyes darted to his, "well would you have dated a Gryffindor?"

Draco smirked "I did, once"

She raised a brow in surprise, "Really? Who?"

"What kind of gentlemen would I be if I were to kiss and tell"

Hermione rolled her eyes and pushed her soup away "Having a physical relationship with someone does not count as dating"

"Even you just described it as a type of relationship" he smirked proudly

"You know what I mean" her arms crossed over her chest and turned her gaze to the crowd

Now he was confused, "Have I upset you?"

"I don't understand how you can have a total disregard for peoples feelings," she looked back at him "I mean, aren't you ever lonely? None of your friends were ever close, you never got close so any of the girls you had trysts with"

Draco narrowed his eyes slightly, "I was often lonely, but you know just as well as I do it's dangerous to get close to people during a war."

"Sorry"

"It's fine, you didn't mean anything" he glanced down at his watch "We should get going, I made plans to meet a friend" Hermione gave him a weary glance but did not question him.

The click of her heels resounded through the halls as she quickly walked back to her office. Her fingers were shuffling through the stack of papers in her arms. Her secretary almost didn't catch her as she walked by,

"Ms. Granger!"

Hermione turned on her heels, "Yes Emily?"

"You have a Mr. Malfoy waiting for you in his office" Emily had a worried look on her face as if she was going to get in trouble for letting him in

Hermione shifted her wait to one hip and sighed, "its okay, I know he's hard to handle" She straightened out her skirt before continuing on to her office. Draco was sitting at her desk looking at pictures she had displayed on her desk. "I'm surprised to see you here" she closed the door behind her and placed her papers down on her desk.

Draco looked up and smirked, "I hope that's a good surprised"

She gave him a sideways smile "that depends on what you're here for"

"I saw that you got a new job in the paper, though id swing by" he put down the picture frame

"Oh how lovely of you to do so without dropping me an owl" she raised her brow

"I suppose you're upset you haven't heard from me till now" he stood and walked around the desk to bring himself closer

"I thought you forgot about me" she had to look down to hide the blush that rose to her cheeks from the admission

Draco smiled at her modesty, "I don't think that's possible" his thumb ran over her cheek lightly

"Then why did you disappear on me?" Hermione was surprised at the softness of her voice, she hadn't expected to act like this around him

"I wanted to sort out my affairs, you deserve all of my attention" Draco looked at her hopefully, he realized this was the sort of conversation that a couple would have. He could feel his heart beating heavily in his chest, was hers doing the same?

Hermione began to nervously play with her hair "I guess that's okay, it would have been nice to know that though"

Draco took her free hand in hers, "it won't happen again Hermione, let me take you out to dinner to make up for it"

"I can't tonight, there's a budget meeting I have to stay late for" she momentarily bit on her bottom lip "how about lunch tomorrow"

Draco tried not to frown, lunch was much less like a date and far more like a meeting between friends "I suppose that's better than nothing" He dropped her hand to look at his watch "I should get going anyways"

Hermione furrowed her brows slightly at his sudden change in mood but nodded, "okay I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Send me an owl once you've picked out the place" he said as he walked out her door

Leaning on her doorway , she watched him walk down the hall purposefully then shook her head in confusion.

Draco stared down at the paper work on his desk and looked away for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. Leaning back with his feet on the desk he tossed a ball an caught it in his hands, repeating the process over and over to keep his mind busy and off of Hermione. A loud knock on the door startled him, causing him to drop the ball. Draco looked at the small ball in annoyance for a moment before calling out, "come in"

"I see you're hard at work"

"Of course I am Zabini" Draco smirked at his coworker

"Thought I would give you a head's up that the boss is on his way down to talk to you about the Gala"

Draco sighed, "I swear he's never satisfied" as if on cue there was another knock on the door

"Ah, Here you are Malfoy" His large boss managed to squeeze pass his coworker in order to sit in one of the plush chairs opposite to Draco's desk "what have you been doing moping around in your office all day?"

"I've hardy been moping, Miller" he tired to hide his disdain

He shrugged, "has your love life got you a weary?"

Draco chuckled, "incase you haven't notice I've got no problem with the ladies"

The older man looked at him knowingly, "I'm not talking about your sex life here Malfoy, I'm referring to your heart"

"I assure you my heart is just fine" Draco leaned back in his chair to eye his boss carefully. There was a quiet moment before another knock filled the room. "Yes?"

Draco's secretary opened the door slightly, "There's a Miss Granger here to see you"

He looked at the men in the room, who were curiously looking back at him "Can you ask her to wait?" he was sure his voice had a hint of anxiety in it

"No, don't let us bother you. Send the young woman in Susie" Miller spoke firmly to the secretary, who looked from the older man to Draco. He had no choice but to nod in agreement. Miller and Smith only looked at each other and back at Draco as they waited for Susie to bring Hermione in. Draco had a bad feeling about this, but as soon as she entered the room familiar butterflies filled his stomach.

Hermione had the same outfit she had worn to work that day, a black pencil skirt that hugged her curves, a white three quarter sleeve shirt, and black pumps to complete the look. Even with such a corporate outfit on a glow was still about her. Even though she hadn't expected to see the other men in the office she smiled brightly at all of them. Draco smiled back at her, and got up from his seat to greet her. He swiftly got to her side and pressed a light kiss to her cheek, Hermione didn't even move away from the unusual contact.

"Hermione , This is my coworker Zabini" he introduced the young man in his office as she held out her hand to shake his "and his is my boss Miller"

"It's nice to meet you" she shook the bigger mans hand as well

"Pleasures all mine, but please call me John. Last names are mostly between the men here"

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Hermione turned to Draco now "I thought we had a date tonight"

Draco grinned widely at her, "of course love, I was just finishing up here"

"I certainly hope Malfoy is bringing you to our Gala this weekend"

"Maybe if he's lucky" Hermione gave him a sly smile

Miller laughed, "With you, he would be a lucky man"

"Alright, you're all wounding my ego. Can you wait for me while we finish our talk?" Draco tucked a curl behind Hermione's hair as he spoke to her

"Just don't keep me waiting" she joked playfully, "it was nice you meet you guys" she waved to the men as she walked out

Draco was still smiling when he looked back at the men, "what?"

"I guess you're love life is doing just fine"

The small restaurant Hermione led Draco to was brightly lit and filled with people, definitely not the place Draco would have chosen for their first date. Hermione was looking over the menu with great interest, Draco felt a smile tugging at his lips. He began to wonder if she was just considering this a friendly gathering.

"So what changed your mind about dinner?" Draco inquired

Hermione simply shrugged "my boss canceled the meeting" she looked up "are you even going to look at your menu?"

He laughed lightly "Well what are you getting?"

"I think just a bowl of ravioli" she neatly folded the menu and put it at the edge of the table

"Sounds good to me" he put his menu on the edge as well, it was only a few minutes before a waitress came and took their order. "Why don't you tell me a little more about what you've been up to"

"It's not a very interesting story, a found an apartment and a new job. I haven't had much of a personal life lately. Harry and Ron are working at the ministry now, between that and their love lives I haven't seen much of them" Hermione bit on her lip lightly, she was afraid she sounded rather pathetic

Draco merely shrugged, "it happens sometimes, I'm sure it won't last long though. You three have always been inseparable"

"I don't like feeling like the third wheel though when they're all being all…lovely dovey"

He had to laugh at that "I'm sorry"

"Don't laugh at me!" she giggled as well "at least when you were around I had someone to spend time with when they were off as couples"

"Perhaps you should keep me around more often then" a smirk reached his lips

"The last thing I need is another male best friend"

Draco leaned back in his chair, she still wasn't getting it. "And here you are"

She could feel her cheeks starting to heat up, "I told you I like having you around Draco" her voice was very soft

"I like having you around too" Before Draco could push the subject any further, their food arrived. After a few bites Hermione spoke up

"So what have you been up to?"

"About the same as you, work and setting up the new place I'm at"

Hermione looked down at her food, "not seeing anyone then?"

Draco was surprised she asked this, "I'm seeing you right now" she raised a brow "well you called it a date in my office"

"I suppose I did" a smile reached her lips

"And our second date will be tomorrow when we go shopping for your dress" Draco said decisively before biting into a ravioli

"My dress?"

"You told my boss you were coming to the gala, and you can't back out now I'm already looking forward to it"

"Well if I must I suppose I can accompany you"

Draco smiled at her brightly, "oh you must"