For the remaining four months that Hermione was contracted to work in Paris the couple saw each other as often as possible, which actually turned out to be quite a bit considering Draco had his new Potions business to get set up. Draco actually spent more time than necessary in France, and even when he didn't have a business reason to be in the country he still found time to see Hermione.

The four months passed in a blur of romance and sex, and talk of the future didn't happen until a week before Hermione was due to finish at the French Ministry. The couple had admitted they wanted to be together, but they had yet to talk about specifics. With Hermione still working in France it seemed a bit pointless to discuss the future, but now the contract was ending the future was on both of their minds.

It was a Sunday afternoon when the topic was finally broached. Draco had arrived in Paris the previous evening and the pair had dined at a quiet restaurant before heading back to Hermione's flat. Their Sunday morning was spent lazing in bed and after having some lunch at a nearby café the pair had gone for a walk. Currently they were sitting in a park, a few streets away from where Hermione lived.

"Have you decided what you're doing next week?" Draco asked casually as they sat side by side eating ice-creams.

"I suppose that all depends on you." Hermione replied. "I usually stay with Harry or Ron, but I was hoping you might like a house guest."

"You know you're always welcome to stay with me." Draco said. Actually Hermione had never set foot in his London Penthouse, but the offer to stay had always been there. "But I was actually talking about work?"

"I took the job as a way of running away from my feelings for you." Hermione admitted. "I've never stayed at home, because I've got nothing to stay for. I can see my friends regularly enough without being in the country, beside they have their own lives to lead." Hermione looked up at Draco hopefully before continuing. "But now, I think I've got something to stay for. At least I hope I have."

"I admit I don't want you to leave again." Draco said. "These last four months have been easier than I thought to manage, but it wouldn't work long term. I'm selfish enough to ask you to stay with me, but I also don't want to put any pressure on you. I don't want you hating me for stopping you doing a job you clearly love."

"I love you more than my job, and if I lose you by continuing my job I'll end up hating it." Hermione took hold of Draco's hand and entwined their fingers as she talked. "I've done this job for six years, and I'll admit I've loved the travelling and the experiences it given me, but it's time I returned home with you. I want to build a life with you, and we can't do that if I'm constantly living abroad."

"So you want to stay with me?" Draco checked.

"If you'll have me."

Draco smiled widely at Hermione, before giving her a deep kiss. "Of course I'll have you. It's what I've always wanted."

"I don't know if you want me to find my own place or what." Hermione said hesitantly. She didn't want to assume she was going to be welcome to live with Draco, as much as it was what she wanted.

"We can find our place." Draco clarified. "For now we can stay at the penthouse, but it'd be nice to find someplace of our own. We can find somewhere we can put down roots, somewhere we can raise a family."

"Family?" Hermione gazed at Draco, surprised he'd thought about having a family with her.

Draco blushed at his slip, he hadn't meant to reveal just how much he'd thought about the future with her. "Not that we have to do anything like that." He said hastily, not wanting Hermione to think he was pressuring her into anything. "It's completely up to you. We could just live together, and nothing more."

"Draco, shut up." Hermione laughed. Seeing Draco babbling always amused her as he did it so rarely. "I love the idea of finding somewhere we can build a future together. And I love the idea of having children with you, but not just yet. I think for the time being we need to concentrate on me returning home and telling people about us. I think we're going to shock a few people."

"I think we are." Draco chuckled, imagining the look on his father's face when he found out about Hermione. "And you know what, I don't care. As long as we're happy, I couldn't care less what anyone else has to say."

Hermione threw her arms around Draco and gave him another kiss. Knowing other people and their opinions weren't going to be an issue was a relief and it left them free to concentrate on planning Hermione's homecoming.


Hermione entered the canteen at the Ministry of Magic in London, her eyes scanning the crowds for her two best friends. Spotting Harry and Ron in the far corner, Hermione began making her way over to them. She'd sent them an owl the previous week saying she had accommodation sorted out, but wanted to meet them for lunch the first day back. Harry and Ron both owled her back, letting her know they were looking forward to seeing her and would love to have lunch together.

Hermione's contract with the French Ministry had ended the previous Friday and after spending the weekend moving into Draco's penthouse she'd just had a meeting with Kingsley to explain she wanted to stay in Britain. Kingsley was more than happy for Hermione to be based in the UK and was already talking about a promotion for her. While Kingsley was sorting the details for her new position he'd given her the week off to get settled back in.

"Hermione!" Harry Potter cried, spotting his best friend as she approached.

"Hello, Harry." Hermione smiled at her friend as she embraced him. Turning to Ron she also gave the redhead a hug and welcome.

"It's great to have you back, Hermione." Ron Weasley grinned as the trio settled down at the table, and he began eating his chips. Harry and Ron had already ordered food and there was more than enough for Hermione to share.

"How long have we got you for this time?" Harry asked, pouring Hermione a cup of coffee from the pot they'd ordered.

"I'm back for good." Hermione replied.

"You're not travelling anymore?" Ron asked, looking rather shocked by the news.

"Nope, it's time I settled down." Hermione answered. "I've spoken to Kingsley this morning, and he's more than happy to arrange a position for me here."

"What's brought on your change of heart?" Harry asked. "You've been adamant for years that you liked your life and didn't need to put down roots."

"I did like my life, but I was using travelling as a way of running away from how I felt." Hermione explained.

"You mean you were running from Malfoy." Ron snorted.

"What are you talking about?" Hermione gaped at her friend in surprise.

"Did you honestly think we didn't know about you two back in school?" Harry chuckled. "Come on Hermione, it was obvious to everyone the pair of you were sleeping together."

"It was? How?" Hermione questioned.

"Mainly because it always looked as though the pair of you were minutes away from tearing each other's clothes off all the time." Ron replied with a shrug. "And of course, there was the fact you couldn't keep your eyes off each other."

Hermione was genuinely shocked, she'd had no idea her and Draco had been so transparent. She really thought they'd kept their relationship a secret from everyone.

"If you knew, why did you never say anything?" She asked.

"It wasn't any of our business." Harry replied. "We knew that if you wanted to tell us, you would. When school ended and you didn't carry on seeing him we assumed it was a fling and hadn't meant anything."

"Then of course you took off, and haven't stopped since." Ron added. "It didn't take a genius to work out you were running away from how you felt. Your lack of serious relationships are also an indicator that you've never gotten over him."

"Again, why did you never discuss this with me?" Hermione asked. "Why not ask me about how I felt?"

"If you wanted to talk, you could have come to us at any time." Harry pointed out. "Over the last few years you've stayed with us both plenty of times and have had ample opportunity to confide in us. We weren't going to pry into your life, Hermione."

"I can't believe you knew all this time." Hermione muttered in bewilderment.

"Enough about the past." Ron said. "Why don't you tell us the real reason why you're coming back. And come to think about it, where are you staying?"

"The answer to both of those are the same." Hermione chuckled. "It's also the same as what we've been talking about for the last few minutes."

"Malfoy!" Harry exclaimed as he and Ron looked at their friend in astonishment.

"You're back with Malfoy." Ron concluded.

"Yeah." Hermione nodded. "We ran into each other a few months ago and cleared the air. We finally admitted we wanted to be together, so we are. We're really happy, and I would love it if you two were happy for me."

"Of course we're happy for you." Harry said with a smile.

"Yeah, why wouldn't we be?" Ron asked. "I know we didn't really like Malfoy back in school, but that was years ago."

"Plus, we kind of came to terms with him being in our lives back in seventh year." Harry added. "We were convinced the pair of you were serious about each other."

"It turns out we were, we just failed to mention it at the time." Hermione replied. "Seriously guys, thank you for being so amazing."

"That's what friends are for." Harry grinned at the brunette witch.

Hermione grinned back at Harry and Ron, before steering the conversation around to them. After catching up for the rest of lunchtime, Harry and Ron headed back to work while Hermione headed back to the penthouse where she spent the remainder of her afternoon preparing dinner for Draco and having a nice relaxing bath.

Dinner was almost ready when Draco returned from work and while she was finishing off the meal, Hermione sent her boyfriend for a shower and to get changed. By the time Draco re-emerged from the bedroom, Hermione was just setting dinner onto the table.

"I could get used to this sort of treatment." Draco commented as they settled down to eat.

"Don't." Hermione laughed. "I'll be back at work next week, and I won't have time to treat you like this."

"I take it everything went okay with Kingsley." Draco checked, although everything sounded positive and Hermione was clearly in a great mood.

"He was fine with me staying here, in fact he's talking about giving me a promotion." Hermione replied. "I won't know the details until next week, but it sounds as though my career is advancing nicely."

"That's great." Draco smiled, genuinely happy for his girlfriend. He knew how much Hermione's career meant to her and he was pleased that choosing to remain at home hadn't hindered her progress up the ranks. "And how did things go with your friends?" He asked. Draco knew Hermione was going to speak to her friends at lunchtime, just as he had spoken to his.

"Better than I thought." Hermione admitted. "They had no problems with us being together. In fact they even knew we'd been together in seventh year."

"My friends did as well." Draco replied. "According to them we weren't as subtle as we thought and it was obvious we were together."

"That's what Harry and Ron said." Hermione chuckled. "I guess we're no good at being sneaky."

"Speak for yourself, I'm a Slytherin. Being sneaky is in my blood." Draco protested with mock indignation.

"Clearly not where I'm concerned." Hermione smirked at her boyfriend. "I obviously interfere with your sneakiness."

"Or I just can't hide how I feel about you very well." Draco retorted. "And I obviously can't hide how much I want you. According to Blaise I was like a randy teenager around you, and kept undressing you with my eyes."

"You were a randy teenager." Hermione laughed as she stood up and walked around the table until she was standing in front of Draco. Leaning down she gave him a perfect view down her top and she whispered in his ear. "And just for the record, I prefer it when you undress me with your hands, not your eyes."

Pulling his wand out, Draco cleared the table and sat Hermione on the wooden surface in front of him. Another flick of his wand removed Hermione's clothes, leaving her completely naked.

"I suppose magic is still better than your eyes." Hermione remarked. "But your hands are still preferable."

"I'm going to use my hands now." Draco grinned, running his hands up Hermione's thighs and opening her legs.

"What about dessert?" Hermione asked. "There's a black forest gateau in the fridge."

"We can have that tomorrow, right now you're my dessert."

Hermione shook her head at her boyfriend, but within minute's further complaint was the last thing on her mind as his talented tongue got to work. Hermione lost herself to the feeling's Draco was producing in her, forgetting all about their earlier conversation and the good reaction from their friends. She also forgot all about the fact they had yet to tell their parents about their union. While her parents wouldn't pose a problem, Draco's likely would, but luckily for Hermione she was far too busy to worry about parents when her lover was pleasuring her so expertly.