"This is such a bad idea," Hermione muttered to herself as she walked up the path to the home she had once felt safest at. The Burrow stood tall and stable for its age, but parts of it were noticeably swaying in the harsh wind. She shivered in her jacket at the cold winter air, or was it the fact that for the first time she was terrified to walk into this house. The house that she spent nearly every summer in, the house that she has thousands of happy memories in. She had been invited to lunch by Mrs. Weasley, whom had no idea that her son and Hermione had officially broken up. Harry and Ginny of course knew, both disgusted by Ron's actions, but they didn't dare tell Mrs. Weasley. The wrath of her was well known. So Hermione was there to set things straight. She only hoped that by some miracle Ron wouldn't show up today.

But as her luck would have it, her hopes were hopeless. She heard the crunching of snow beneath a heavy footed person trying to catch up to her. "Hermione!" Ron shouted as he jogged up the path.

She didn't slow her pace, but stood at the door to collect herself before walking in. Inconvenient but necessary. This gave him the time to catch up with her, walking inside directly after her.

"Hermione!" Ginny greeted her friend as she walked in the door. Only to have her face fall with confusion as the brother who broke said friend's heart walked in behind her. "And Ron?"

"Why the sense of surprise to see me, little sister?" Ron chuckled.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she sat back down next to her husband, ducking away from the watchful eyes of her mother.

"Ron, Hermione. It's nice to have you both here," Mrs. Weasley started, training her eyes on Hermione. "It has been terribly long since you've joined us, dear."

"Well actually I was he-" she attempted to tell her that she was only there to set the record straight. She and her son were no longer a couple. But Ron had cut her off, trying to save his skin by never letting his mother find out about the blip in their relationship. If he had it his way there would never be a reason to tell her because Hermione would eventually be his again. Why anger the mother bear?

He pulled her close to him, an arm around her body bring him into his side. "You know how busy 'Mione is."

She nodded in agreement, dismissing it. "Ah yes. You have had an awful lot on your hands recently."

Her husband spoke next, a huge grin on his face and the curiosity of a child in his voice. "If you don't mind, Hermione. I am simply fascinated by what you and Mr. Malfoy are doing. Could you explain how he's making these muggle objects work here?"

Hermione genuinely smiled, fond of the work her and Draco were doing. She was happy that there were so many people out there, like Mr. Weasley, who were intrigued by the idea. So intrigued that they seemed to forgot who he was in the past. "I would love to tell you but I'm honestly not the brains behind the operation."

"Well that's a first," George snorted from the end of the table. He was entertaining his toddler son Fred with something that was fizzing and shooting small sparks, much to the displeasure of his very pregnant wife.

Hermione laughed at him before seriously stating, "It's completely Draco. He's created everything, he's the brains behind it."

"So he's Draco now?" I knew that voice, it was Ron's jealous voice. I'd heard it ten too many times by now.

"He's always been Draco."

"You know what I mean."

"Ronald, we've worked closely for years now. He's been just Draco for a while."

She saw the signs of him getting angry, the bridge of his nose and ears turning red. "Why?"

She sighed, why did she have to explain this to him? They weren't even together anymore. What does it matter what she calls her friends? "Because he's not some snotty boy in school who has some stupid rivalry anymore. He's grown up and he's changed," she laughed at the cliché. He's different now, I swear. How classic girl meets bad boy, bad boy is redeemed, happily ever after bullshit that Hermione refused to base her life around. "So yes, now he's Draco. Draco the adult I worked with, Draco my friend, and Draco the mastermind behind MWAS."

His face was more than just red now, it looked like it would be hot to the touch. If this were one of those cartoon that she watched with her father on those childhood saturday mornings, he would have steam pouring from his ears and a whistle would blow. But, this was real life and instead he just looked like he might explode, which Hermione thought would alleviate a few of her problems.

He didn't get the chance to say anything because Harry pipped in, "But how do you know he's changed Hermione?"

She didn't want to get into this, but here she was...getting into this. "I see and talk to him every day. I also see all the hard work he is putting into that the old Draco would never do."

"Are you sure he's doing what he's even saying he's doing? Why would he help muggleborns?" Ron barked out.

Hermione's calm demeanor was breaking, "Because he wants to. I know him better than you think I do, just trust me on this. He just wants to do good."

"But yo-"

"Shut up, Ron." Everyone was surprised to hear Ginny chip in.

Hermione mouthed a silent "thank you" to the other witch.

"I'd rather not discuss Draco here. I know many of you have problems with him and I don't feel like spending this entire afternoon defending him."

Mrs. Weasley nodded in agreement, "Let's just eat, no reason to fret over someone so trivial."

Even though Hermione didn't particularly like the phrasing of that, she knew the woman was right and it was best to drop it."

The lunch went by without too many interruptions. Anytime someone would bring up the wedding Ginny, Ron, or Harry would find a way to change the subject. Hermione was waiting for a chance to say something but quickly learned that during lunch wouldn't work. She would have to get Mrs. Weasley alone.

And after a rather painful afternoon, that moment finally arrived. The men were outside, attempting to fly against the winds of winter that wanted to bring them back down. Ginny was helping keep the others at bay, firing off question after question to George's wife, Angelina, about babies, as she and Harry were finally talking about having some of their own. Finally it seemed to be right for Hermione to corner Mrs. Weasley alone as she was magically cleaning the kitchen after their lunch. She knew the conversation was going to be rough, but she just wanted this whole ordeal to be over with. "Mrs. Weasley, can I have a word?" She slid into the chair across from where the older woman sat.

She put her wand down, but the pots and pans continued cleaning themselves and the broom had just hung itself back up, "Of course."

She took a deep breath, she just had to get this over with, rip off the bandaid. "I just have a problem that I feel needs to be addressed. I thought it would have by now, but apparently I have to be the one who does..."

"Does this have to do with Ron and you?"

"Yes." How did she know?

"You've seemed rather tense toward him today, I could only assume. Is this about the wedding? Are you pushing the date back?"

"Well in a sense you could say that." Hermione inhaled deeply, letting that air then slowly leave her body. "There's not going to be a wedding."

Mrs. Weasley sat dumbfounding, not saying a single word but just look at Hermione as if she had turned into a basilisk. If anything other than shock, there was slight disgust.

Hermione didn't feel the need to tell her of what her son had actually done, and would rather play it safe. She knew Mrs. Weasley's temper and even though she wasn't fond of Ron at the moment, she didn't think he deserved to be ripped apart. "It just didn't work out. We wanted very different things."

"I see." She was silently seething. How could she sit there and have the woman that her son adored call of the wedding. Everyone had worked to hard for this.

"I just wanted you to know that even though we are both here today, it doesn't mean we are together anymore. We just weren't working ou-"

"Oh Hermione, honestly are you on this bit again?" Ron strolled in the back door. He was strangely calm as he turned to his mother, "Mum, don't worry the wedding is still on. She's just having cold feet is all. She's been stressed lately. I know that Christmas will put her in a better mood and she'll be on board again." His hand had come to rest on Hermione's stiffened shoulder.

Mrs. Weasley was silent for some time. "Yes, do still come to Christmas here. You always have been a big part of this family and I know you always will."

Though this statement could have meant that she was always going to be there for Hermione regardless of the situation, Hermione knew better than to think that. She sensed it was similar to what Ron was saying, "oh, she'll come around" types of statements. But she knew she wouldn't come around, she just needed to convince them of that too.

"They really want you to spend Christmas there?" Draco question after Hermione finished telling him all about her afternoon. She had looked over his speech, only making minor adjustments, and they were finished with their work for the day.

Hermione cringed, "Yes. I've been spending Christmas there since...well ever since Ron and I became a couple. And there were some even before that. It'd be more odd not to go."

He looked at his friend knowingly, "I'm sensing a 'but' here."

She sighed, he knew her too well by now and her face was giving it all away, "But...it's going to be highly uncomfortable. It will be right before when the wedding was suppose to be. Why did I ever let him talk me into a winter wedding?" She let her had fall against where her arms were folded on his desk.

"Because you love the snow," Draco shrugged.

"How do you know that?" She picked her head up.

He laughed, "Because I see your face light up every time we go outside and the ground is covered in that sparkly, cold, wet stuff." He made a disgusted face.

"And I see you grumble every time you get snow on your boots, honestly if you just wore something a little more practical you wouldn't ha-"

He put up a hand to stop her, shaking his head. "Yeah, yeah. Function before fashion was never the Malfoy way. I mean, did you see my father's wand and cane? Practical for walking sure, not so practical for magic. And don't even get me started on that awful snake head, the teeth were so sharp he'd cut himself if he moved wrong."

Hermione watched in amusement as he went off on his little tangent. "Well there is a lot you do now that isn't exactly the Malfoy way. I think a new pair of boots would be the least offensive."

He pondered that for a minute before smiling, "You're not wrong."

She rolled her eyes at her friend, "Am I ever?"

"Now, now, Miss Granger. Cockiness does not suit you."

She drew back, like she was surprised, "Like you can talk."

That ever present smirk was gracing his face. "Yes, but it fits me like a freshly tailored cloak."

Hermione had just left when another woman walked into the building and headed straight for Draco's office, not stopping at the front desk like Helena asked.

When he saw her he smirked, "How'd it go?"

"Perfect." She smiled back wickedly, "Did you expect anything less?"

-Author's Note-

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this :)

I hope all of you that celebrate it had a Merry Christmas, and any that don't I hope you had a happy holiday season as well. I am home from college until late January so I hope to update more quickly now that Christmas has come and gone. I keep having these cool ideas for stories but I do't want to start any new ones until I finish either this one or Wrong. I'm hoping to update again before the 1st, but if something happens and I can't I hope you all have a very Happy New Year's eve and day! Thanks for reading! -S.