Draco approached her with a wide grin on his face and placed a very tall, very large cup of coffee in front of her. This'll be great, he thought.

"This is not a chamomile with lavender." Hermione said, looking from the coffee to him. "It's not even hot coffee. What is this?"

"This, dear lady, is a caramel toffee crunch frappuccino topped with whipped cream."

"A what?" she scrunched up her features.

"Just try a sip." Draco told her, stabbing a straw into her drink.

"No, I really don't like coffee."

"Yes you do."

"No, I don't."

"Just try it."

She sipped the damn coffee. Dear lord it was delicious. But she couldn't admit it. How could she? She couldn't let him win this one.

"It's ok I guess. I'd prefer some tea." she said shortly, placing the frap down.

He chuckled deeply. "You like it." he concluded.

"Do not."

He smiled and shook his head, taking a sip from his own coffee.

"What made you get me a frappuccino? It's like ten degrees outside. Why would anyone want something cold?" She asked him from across the table. "Well you always drink frappuccinos." he almost said it. He almost completely and single handedly blew his own cover. Almost. It's a miracle the words didn't slip from his lips. "Well you look like someone who would like a caramel toffee crunch frappuccino." is what he did say.

She looked at him and took another sip of her delicious drink. "You have good intuition." she said conclusively. He smiled.

They talked. And talked. For what seemed like ages. The words were flowing from the both of them.

She learned a lot about him.

His full name was Draco Lucius Malfoy. From the age of 11 he went to a boarding school out on the outskirts of England. He studied there and was among the top of his class but the school was closed due to some sort of scandal. It reopened two years later and he was able to finish his studies. He was some sort of accountant these days. "I've always liked numbers." he explained. "They just make sense."

Draco couldn't stop looking at her. There was so much to her that remained the same. She still had that gleam in her eyes that projected innocence. She had kept her hair in the same short brown curls. She still had a love of reading. She was still friends with that bloody Potter and Weasley. Wasn't that just fine and dandy? Rather advantageous for them. Erase her memory but in a way where she still remembers those two.

It was bizarre to hear her life story. How they had altered her memories. Although parallels definitely existed. Just as in Hogwarts she had been best friends with Harry and Ron. She had been top of her class. She admitted herself she was a bit of a teacher's pet. Her curiosity got the best of her most of the time, especially with her two friends involved. They were always getting into trouble.

"But I don't see them as much anymore," she explained, "They both got some sort of government job on the other side of the country. Really important secret stuff." she laughed to herself. But it was a sad sort of laugh.

Right, Draco thought, the 'other side'.

"Well, I'm sure you miss them." he said. "Oh I do. Quite terribly." she said solemnly as she swirled her coffee around. It was then that Draco noticed the scar on her left arm. He had almost forgotten that. He would have missed it completely had she not rolled up her sleeves. Thoughts swirled around him. It was getting rather stuffy in that coffee shop. "How did you get that scar?" he asked her, pointing to her left arm. As the words fell from his mouth the sharp memory of pain entered her mind, causing her to grimace. "That was a long time ago," she said, unconsciously rubbing her arm. Draco motioned for her to continue. "I was little, and I was on the swings. I guess I had taken the swing that belonged to this very mean girl. She was about two grades older than me. I really actually don't remember it too well but I guess my arm ended up being scraped across the concrete." she shook her head as if to shake away the memory. Most of her stories ended up this way. She didn't remember much of her past at all.

"I have one too." Draco told her.

"What?"

"A scar, on my left arm." he said, bringing his arm up to rest on the table and rolling up his own sleeve.

And indeed he did. A rather nasty one too, going up from his wrist to the elbow.

"How did you manage that?" she asked, nearly gaping.

"Tattoo removal." he said easily.

She looked at him doubtfully. "Must've been one hell of a tattoo." she said, then, after a while added, "What of?"

"A skull. With a snake or something. I don't really remember." he said.

"That doesn't sound much like you." she told him.

"That's why I got it removed." He explained, and with one long gulp finished off his drink.

And so their chat continued. Mostly frivolous things. Birthday, favorite food, things of their past (although Hermione was rather quiet about her past) and favorite colors. His was green and hers was red.

"Together they make christmas!" she said, laughing.

"Indeed they do." Draco grinned. "I've always loved Christmas." she told him. She loved everything about it- the songs, the decorations, that happiness that came with the season. Most of all were the twinkling lights that hung from every house. "That's one of the few clear memories I have," she explained, "And I'm not even sure if it's real. It might've just been a dream." she said awkwardly.

"Would you mind telling me?" he asked.

She bit her lip. "Well, like I said, it could've been a dream," she began, "but I guess my family and I were on vacation because I was staying in this castle sort of hotel. They had the largest Christmas tree I'd ever seen in my life. And there was snow everywhere, it was absolutely beautiful. There were all sorts of people there, dressed in all sorts of strange things, probably trying to keep warm. And it was almost as if presents were literally flying around the room." she said, a little embarrassed, "It's strange because the memory is rather foggy but I have a clear image of that tree and of being ridiculously happy." she told him.

Something clicked in Draco. So there were rough patches. Cracks in her mind where little rays of her real life shined through. Maybe he could get her her memory back. She had definitely just described Hogwarts. Probably must've been her first year. Draco remembered it clearly. In the middle of the great hall stood an outstandingly large Christmas tree decorated to the highest degree. It had snowed more than usual that year.

"Well I definitely think it's a real memory." he informed her.

"What makes you say that?" she asked.

"No one's that creative." he said, flashing his smirk at her.

He leaned in suddenly, capturing her full attention. "If I ask you something would you reply honestly?" he said in a rather hushed tone.

"Um, I'll try my best," she was a little startled by his sudden change in emotion.

Draco eyed her carefully then checked to make sure no one was looking at them. He leaned in even closer and looked her dead in the face. He exhaled sharply and asked his question.

"Do you believe in magic?"