This chapter may be a bit boring, but I felt it was a necessity. Feedback is welcomed. Thank you for giving me a shot. Much love to you precious little nuggets.

Monday came quicker than anticipated. Although working two other jobs tended to keep one busy when they didn't have to worry about a social life. The brunette witch had bought some more clothes over the weekend that was suitable for work, the ones that she currently had were mostly street clothes.

Today she wore another black skirt but her button-up shirt was dark purple this time. Thankful that she didn't need to style her hair, she applied some light make-up and after giving herself a once over, she headed out the door and off to work.

Hermione of course arrived over fifteen minutes early, the woman at the front desk had remembered her from the previous week and gave her a badge, giving her access to practically everything in the building. She headed to the elevator and hit the button for the top floor, chewing on her lip as the lift took off.

It had been quite some time since she had really been around Malfoy for a long period of time. He had seemed different when she was in for the 'interview', but he could be charming when prompted. Rubbing her temples, she fought off the headache that was dying to appear from her thoughts alone.

The ding signaled that she was arrived at her destination. The doors opened and she stepped out. There was only a large round, wooden desk in the center of the room with one door behind it. The blond woman looked up to see who it was and flashed Hermione a bright smile. "Good morning Miss Granger."

Returning the smile, she stepped out of the elevator and closer to the woman, scanning her name tag before she dared to speak. "Good morning, Stephanie." Walking past the desk, she went to the same door she had gone to the last time she was here and opened it.

No sooner did she shut the door before the sound of someone flooing into the room could be heard. Jumping slightly and letting out a soft squeal, her eyes landed on Malfoy as he walked into view. "Granger." He greeted like he might an old friend, walking over to his desk and sitting down.

Giving him a curt nod that he didn't even see, she made her way over to what she assumed was her desk. "Malfoy." She responded finally. Sitting down in the chair, she looked around; it was so bare in the office, something she couldn't quite get over for some reason. It was so un-Malfoy like. "I have some files that I need put away. Well I have," He paused, a sheepish look on his face and he did a revealio charm and revealed to her the massive piles of files. "A lot of files that I need put away. It's been a few months since I have had an assistant and I'm just so busy. They are already in alphabetical order though; all you have to do it put them away. I'm so sorry."

Hermione gaped at the piles before her. "Merlin's beard Malfoy." All she got in return was a nervous chuckle. "You plan on helping me, right?" Raising a brow, she turned her attention to him and he simply stared at her, wide-eyed. "Uh.. Yeah, sure. I just have to finish these and then go to a board meeting." His words were rushed and she waved him away. "I got this, never mind."

Well at least she wouldn't have to sit through awkward silence with him if she was busy. Walking over to the first pile, she opened the file cabinet and began to place them in. Glancing over at Malfoy, she saw as he had his brows furrowed, murmuring something to himself as he flipped through some papers. "Stop staring at me, Granger. It's rude."

Clearing her throat, she turned her attention back to the files, working double-time to keep her busy. By the time lunch rolled around, she had A-E done and that was a small accomplishment of its own. One stack down, four more to go. "Granger." Malfoy called out, popping his head in the door. "It's lunch time and I am starving, come on." Oh great, now she was going to have to endure lunch with him too?

Without responding, she abandoned the files and headed towards the door where he awaited. "The deli across the street has delicious sandwiches. I figured we could finally talk now that I'm not nose deep in paperwork and you aren't buried in files."

"I am not buried in them." She stated, causing the man beside her to scoff and roll his eyes. They reached the elevator and he allowed her to walk in first before following. "I thought I was going to have to send a rescue team just to find you, you're so short." Hermione wanted to stamp her foot like a child and cross her arms. She wasn't that short, just slightly. "Whatever, Malfoy." That earned her a chuckle and he bumped his shoulder to hers gently, earning him a murderous look from the woman beside him.

When the pair reached the ground level, they walked out together and promptly headed for the entrance where he opened the door for her like a gentlemen. Stepping outside, she gave him a sideways glance as they headed to the place across the street. It smelled absolutely amazing the closer they got. "Who are you and what have you done with Malfoy?"

The question must have startled him slightly because he looked at her confused. "What on earth do you mean?"

"You're so nice. It's weird."

Malfoy looked a little deflated at her words, what did he expect? "I grew up." Was all he said before pushing past her slightly to open the door, his eyes looking anywhere but her.

Lunch had been awkward to say the least. On her end anyway. Hermione didn't know how she was supposed to feel around him. He had bullied her, caused her many nights of tears and here he was, opening doors for her and being nice. A part of her wondered what he was playing at but she shoved those thoughts aside. Maybe he really had grown up.

When they got back to the building, she realized that she didn't know where anything else in the building was, only his office. "Malfoy." She called out as he brushed past her after closing the door behind the pair. He paused, taking a deep breath before turning to look at her. Her comment earlier must have affected him more than she thought it would.

"Can you show me around?" The question itself was innocent. It caused him to pause, realization dawned on him that he hadn't given her a tour. "This way, milady." He bowed a little and she couldn't resist the small laugh as she gently pushed on his shoulder, a smile on his lips. She was going to take this newfound generosity and just run with it. Cautiously of course because men were still not that high on her priority list, even if said man has been a constant in your life since you were eleven. There were only a few levels to the building. The bottom floor held a few offices that were used for meetings.

Level two was the payroll and IT department. Normally, IT isn't a thing for wizards and witches because they do not use muggle computers in their offices. Malfoy however, did. She made a mental note to ask about that once they reached their office. Everyone responded to him with a smile. Honestly she was shocked to say the least when she realized that not everyone in the building was pure-blood. Over half of them were half-blood or muggleborn such as her.

Level three was where the fun stuff happened. It was the testing area for the potions. Generally, most potions were tested by the workers themselves. It could be a deadly job if someone was to mix the wrong things together, but they didn't seem to mind. There was so much love and compassion put into each potion whether it is a simple one or a more complex one.

This level also held the breakroom. Inside was nothing like she expected, then again she really didn't know what she should expect when it came to Malfoy lately, he was full of surprises. There were couches placed strategically in the room, a coffee table in front of each. The backs of each 'set' of couches touched as they might in a restaurant. There was also a counter with a sink, cabinets and a microwave. Of course to tie it all together, there were two large fridges that sat side-by-side. It was so very... Muggle like.

The last floor held his office. I was familiar with that one and I happily accepted it as the pair stepped out of the elevator and into his office where she walked over to her desk and promptly kicked her shoes off. A sigh escaped and she closed her eyes, she sure did hate those shoes. A soft chuckle came from behind her and she waited for him to say something, but nothing came.

Ignoring the piles, she sat down in her chair and looked over at him. He was already nose-deep in papers again. "Why do you have so many muggle items here?" Her question caught him off guard and she watched as his face turned guarded. "Is it impossible for someone such as myself to enjoy the little things such as muggle items? They are quite useful." By now he had set his papers down and was leaning on his arms, staring right at her. "You've always hated anything to do with Muggles, Malfoy, so yeah, it seems pretty impossible to me. They were always beneath you."

"You are treading on thin water, Granger. I told you that I grew up, maybe you should too. Being stuck in the past won't get you anywhere." He snapped, clenching his fist tightly to keep from slamming them down on the table. As much as she didn't want to admit it, Malfoy was right.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was small and she was absolutely ashamed. "The past hasn't been so kind to me lately." Her eyes met his and you could see the wonder, but he chose not to say anything.

"Tell me, then, why you use them? I for one think it is a brilliant idea." She chose her words carefully. Hermione wasn't intending on losing her job the very first day because she couldn't keep her emotions in check.

His eyes had a faraway look in them as he began to talk. "Astoria and I decided that during our engagement, we would live in the muggle world. We talked about how we would raise our child, or children, to be different than we had been. As a pure-blood, you are instilled thoughts that every other blood status was beneath you. That you are superior in every way possible, but going to school I realized that it wasn't true at all. You were the smartest witch there, probably had and still are the brightest witch Hogwarts has seen in so many years. So, we found a quaint little house, got muggle jobs and learned of the struggles they go through. It was quite the eye opener. When our year was up and we wed, we decided to include all of our muggle items into our new home. Hence why we have them here. I was enamored with them; we even have a telly at home."

Clearing his throat, he opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a picture frame, his fingers gently grazing over the glass before he turned it to show her. "This was our home, in muggle London. Despite my mother's protests, we wanted this one to be a normal photo." Standing up, Hermione walked over to his desk and gently took the photo from him to look at it. They looked so young and happy, despite the aftermath of the war that raged on in the wizarding world when they left it. Handing it back to him, she glanced down and caught sight of another photo frame on his desk. "Who is that?"

Malfoy put the photo away and then picked up the one she was referring too, a warm smile on his lips as he handed it to her. It made her gasp now that she could see the whole picture. First glance, it looked exactly like Draco. "That is my son, Scorpius." She didn't think he mentioned that he had a son, but then again they hadn't really had a heart-to-heart. "He's absolutely adorable! He looks just like you when we were kids." Handing the photo back, she didn't miss the smirk that rested on his lips and she somehow managed to not roll her eyes.

A small ding signaled that it was indeed, five. Hermione felt proud, she almost got fired on her first day but didn't. That was quite an accomplishment. "I'll see you in the morning, Granger. Have a good night." Her hand hovered over the door knob and she turned to look back at him. "You too, Malfoy." Twisting the knob, she headed to the elevator and soon was out of the building. Now, to get changed and head to the hospital for her night shift. Oh boy.