(Continuation of the last chapter since the site won't let me post the whole thing)


The next morning Hermione awoke to the sound of Crookshanks purring loudly in her ear. She yawned and stretched, reaching out to scratch him on the head, when sounds coming from her kitchen startled her. She frowned and got up quickly, pulling on a lilac nightgown and looking for her wand.

She froze when the events of last night came rushing back to her and she realized that in the haze of it all, she had left her wand in the kitchen. She opened her bedroom door as quietly as she could and tip toed down the hall, peeking her head around the corner to see Draco freshly showered and dressed and making tea in her kitchen. She leaned against the frame of the entrance and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Morning sunshine, or should I say afternoon since it's nearly two." He said loudly.

She winced and brought a hand to her temple, glaring at him. She moved over to the table where there was a pepper up potion waiting, and sat down after downing it in one gulp.

"What are you doing?" She asked him, laying her head in her arms, waiting for the potion to take effect.

"What's it look like? I'm making tea and toast." He said like it was the most normal thing in the world for him to be in her kitchen making her breakfast.

He placed a cup of tea in front of her and she watched as he poured cream into it and dropped in a small cube of sugar.

"Thank you." She whispered. She watched as he moved around her kitchen, and the memory of the night before kept flashing in her mind.

"Should we talk? You know about what happened last night?" She asked timidly, looking into her tea.

"We had sex Granger. We're both grown adults, we were both consenting, it happened it's over there's nothing to talk about." Draco said, shrugging his shoulders.

She felt a small sting of disappointment but nodded her head anyways and took a piece of toast that he had set on the table. She looked anywhere but at him once he sat down across from her.

He watched as she avoided his eyes. The fact that their tryst started right here in the kitchen probably wasn't helping her cope with what had happened, but he didn't want to talk about it. Talking about it made him remember the things he had felt last night. The way she felt underneath him, the way his name sounded on her lips, the fact that he had thought she was the most beautiful thing on earth as she came beneath him.

The fact that he wanted it to happen again.

It was Hermione Granger for Merlin's sake! Best friend to Harry Potter, Gryffindor Princess, know it all war heroine. He had barely spent a few days with her but she had him bewitched. It was utter nonsense. If he didn't need her help with work he would have been back in London by now making sure he never saw her again. But what bothered Draco the most was the way he felt when he was around her, of all the women that could have piqued his interest, it just had to be Hermione fucking Granger.

"I wanted to go over some of the proposal for the Centaurs. I'll be rather wrapped up in calls and paperwork for the next two days, I'm running out of time so it would be nice to get this all figured out." Draco said brusquely.

"Okay." Hermione responded slowly, nodding her head.

So that was how they spent the rest of the afternoon. A few hours later found Hermione wrapped up in a blanket on her couch watching a movie on the television, Crookshanks purring loudly from his place along the top of the couch. Draco had left earlier, and Hermione was having trouble focusing on anything but the memories of last night.

She had slept with Draco fucking Malfoy. Of all the people she had to go and get drunk with it had to be him. They hadn't been friends before so it wasn't like it would ruin their friendship, if that was even what you wanted to call it. But it was going to make for one hell of an awkward working relationship for the short time she would be helping him. How would things go once she went back to London?

It was bad enough she was going to have a lot of catching up to do with her friends, and seeing Fred for the first time, but how would the relationship be between her and Draco? Would they be friends? Would he tell Harry and Ron what had happened to try and get a rise out of them? How were Harry and Ron going to take that piece of information?

She didn't even need to ask herself that question because she knew the answer was going to be bad, they would take it very very badly. She sighed and tried to refocus back on the movie she was watching. But all she could think about were Draco's hands all over her body and the way he said her name when he came, and the fact that even though she knew it was a horrible idea, a small part of her wanted it to happen again.


Two days later

Hermione smiled down at the paper she had just finished writing. She had taken the last two days to lay out every single detail of the proposal on paper so that it would be more effective when speaking with the Centaur council, granted she was able to get that far. For Draco's sake she hoped she was, his plans for the lab were really going to make a difference in St. Mungos future.

Her heart skipped a beat when she heard the familiar knock at the door. Crookshanks jumped down from his perch on the window sill and padded over to the door, looking up at it expectantly. Hermione shook her head as she gathered up all the papers on the table.

"It's open!" She yelled. She heard the door open and Draco's familiar greeting to Crookshanks.

"I'm in the kitchen!" She yelled, as Draco walked in.

"I'm right here Granger no need to shout." He said, covering his ears. She blushed and mumbled a small sorry before handing over the papers.

"Look these over and tell me what you think." She said. When he didn't take the stack of papers she frowned.

"I don't need to look them over. I trust that you did a more than adequate job on them." He said.

"Why aren't you ready?" He asked her. She looked up at him confusingly.

"Ready for what?" She asked.

"Dinner. I made reservations for eight, it's seven, and the restaurant is across town. Hurry up Granger." He sighed.

"Dinner? You never said anything about dinner?" She said, getting up from her spot at the table.

"Didn't I? Well I am now, so hurry up and go get ready." He said, ushering her towards her bedroom.

"Why are we going to dinner?" She asked as she swung the door shut, not catching that it hit the frame and bounced back open a crack.

"It's my way of saying thank you for doing this. Merlin knows I'll never get the time to thank you once it's been pushed through and we start building." He said with his back to the door.

A small look of disappoint crossed Hermione's features as she let his words sink in. Basically he was telling her that when she went back to London he wouldn't be seeing her. It wasn't like they were friends right? They shagged once and it wasn't like he owed her anything. She knew that it shouldn't bother her in the slightest bit, but for some reason, she felt bothered. She had let him know that she would go back to talk to Firenze and the council herself and it had been a big step for her, and it felt as though it meant nothing to him.

"It's your way of saying, thanks for saving my arse now get out of my hair, you mean." She did her best to hide her disapproval but she knew how it sounded.

Draco smirked and looked over his shoulder towards the door and realized that it was still open, enough so that he could see her finish zipping up a white strapless dress. He watched as she stepped into a pair of heels and magicked her hair up in a mess of curls at the top of her head. Another wave of her wand and she was wearing the same red lipstick as she had been the night they'd gone to the bar, Draco felt his pants tighten and suddenly it was a lot warmer in the flat.

"Do I sense a hint of sadness? Didn't get enough of me the other night Granger?" He said, his voice low and husky, as she opened the door back up and looked at him with a hint of annoyance.

"It's you who keeps coming back for more, Malfoy." She said with a smirk.

He laughed and led her out of the flat and down through the lobby of the building. He smirked at the gasp of surprise from her when she saw that he had hired a car for the evening.

"Draco Malfoy! I never thought I would see the day where you rode in a Muggle car." She laughed as he opened the back door for her. He was getting so used to hearing her say his name.

He rolled his eyes and got in after her, giving the driver the name of the restaurant. She had scooted over to the passenger side of the car and was watching out the window as they crossed town. His fingers itched to reach out and touch the bare skin above her knee, where the dress ended.

"You know I've been thinking." He said, breaking the silence. She looked over at him, nodding for him to continue.

"When we get back to London maybe you could oversee the new lab. From what I remember in school you were quite skilled in potions, and I know you have a bleeding heart so making potions that help people sounds like something that would interest you." He said slowly, watching for any reaction in her eyes.

"Are you offering me a job?" She asked.

"Perhaps, maybe a temporary position, to see how you like it." He answered.

She rolled the idea around in her head the rest of the drive to the restaurant, and didn't answer him until they had been seated at their table.

"I'll think about it." She said simply, looking over the menu.

Draco lifted his menu higher to hide what some would have considered a genuine smile.

An hour and a half later found them laughing over the rest of their crème brûlée and wine as they exchanged stories from life and school. A comfortable silence settled over them and Hermione found herself not able to contain a giant smile that spread across her face.

"What?" Draco asked. She shook her head.

"Thank you, for all of this. If you hadn't stayed when you found out about my parents…I don't know what would have become of me. If you hadn't forced me out of the house and forced me to do this for you."

"Quite surprised that I can be a nice guy?" Draco asked her. She smiled and shook her head again.

"Given the circumstances I think it was typical and highly predictable." She laughed. He feigned shock at her using his own words against him and shook his head.

"What, did you think I'm only being nice because I want your help with the Centaur issue?"

"The old Draco yes, this one I'm still not quite sure. I haven't figured you out yet, still waiting to be genuinely surprised I guess." She said softly.

Draco was silent for a few moments and then stood from the table and offered her his hand. She looked up at him with a confused look on her face, but took his hand anyways, he motioned for her to leave her clutch on the table and she laughed when she realized that he was leading her onto the open dance floor that took up part of the patio.

"Are you serious?" She asked, as he pulled her into his arms and started moving slowly to the music from the live band.

"I can promise you I'm a much better dancer than Krum." He said with a smirk.

Hermione laughed as he moved her around the dance floor and blushed when she noticed that they were gaining an audience.

"People are staring." She whispered to him.

"Let them stare, I can't help that I'm gorgeous and attract a lot of attention Granger." He joked.

She laughed and rested her chin on his shoulder, moving her head slightly into his neck.

"Let's give them a show shall we?" He whispered.

She was about to ask what he meant when he spun her away from him then pulled her back in. The spinning and all of the wine made her dizzy and she tripped slightly coming back into his embrace. He laughed as he caught her and pulled back a bit to see if she was ok.

Time seemed to stand still for them both as they leaned closer to each other, inching ever so slowly, and right when their lips were about to touch they were interrupted by a loud attention grabbing cough. They looked towards the noise and then sprung apart from each other, both freezing as they saw a familiar dark haired wizard standing just a few feet from them, a sly grin plastered on his face.

"Well well well, what do we have here?"

Draco was the first to recover from the shock and glared at the man standing in front of them.

"What are you doing here Theo?" He demanded.

Hermione noticed that he moved towards Theo, abandoning her on the dance floor. She stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

"The deadline has been moved up, I figured I needed to see for myself what had you so wrapped up down here for this long, low and behold I find it's none other than Hermione Granger herself. Draco you sly dog you, what will your Mother say?" Theo's voice dripped with interest and sarcasm all at the same time and it was enough to make her roll her eyes and head back to the table, not caring to hear Draco's response.

"Theo I said I would be back soon. They can't push the deadline without running it by me first." Draco argued, leading Theo away.

"Well mate they did, you've been gone for almost two weeks now, didn't tell anyone where you were going or why. They don't think you're taking this seriously so why should they?" Theo said, looking back over his shoulder at Hermione.

"How in the hell did you get Hermione Granger to agree to have dinner with you? To dance with you no less? Feels like I interrupted something back there eh? Something you should tell me?" Theo prodded.

"There's nothing to tell. She's got a friend on the Centaur council who could help. This is a thank you dinner." Draco opened his mouth to say more but quickly shut it.

"And?" Theo asked, catching that there was more to be said.

"I may have offered her a job." Draco said, flatly.

"Interesting mate, interesting indeed. I'll leave you to it, but there's a portkey that leaves in the morning. I'll owl you the details, but I expect you to make it. You can't just up and leave me to take care of everything. That's not how a parter ship works."

"I know Theo. I'll make the portkey." Draco said, turning back to go into the restaurant.

"Bye Hermione!" Theo yelled over his back.

Draco looked up to see that Hermione had gathered her clutch and was now standing just a few feet away from him.

"Is everything alright?" She asked.

"Yes everything is fine. The deadline got moved up so I'm going to have to go back sooner than expected." He muttered.

Having already paid the bill before the dancing, Draco motioned for their car to pull up from where it was parked in the small lot. He opened the door for her and gave the driver directions to a place Hermione knew all too well. She looked at Draco questioningly and he just smiled at her.

"One last thank you." He simply said.

She felt her heart beating in her chest the entire drive to the cemetery where her parents had been buried. She wrapped her arms around herself when they got out of the car and smiled at Draco in thanks as he wrapped his suit jacket around her. They walked slowly down the path to the familiar grave sites and Hermione felt tears welling up in her eyes. She knelt down, drawing out her wand, and motioned a wreath of flowers against both headstones.

"I know how incredibly hard this has been for you. Leaving it behind can't be easy, but I wanted to show you that you will always be here with them, even when you're in London." Draco said.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked him.

He pulled out his wand and motioned towards the head stones, and Hermione watched as the letters unraveled and in their place her parents rightful names appeared. She brought a hand to her mouth as tears ran down her face. She let out a small cry as she read the message on both stones.

"Loving Mother and loving Father survived by their daughter Hermione." She whispered through her tears. She turned and looked at Draco.

"Thank you." She said. He nodded at her and reached out for her hand, apparating them back to her flat when she took it.

She collapsed in a ball of tears and he picked her up and took her into her bedroom. He laid her on the bed and brushed the hair out of her eyes.

"I have to go but I'll be in touch in a few days." He said, moving towards the door to leave.

"Can you stay? Just for a little while?" Hermione's soft voice stopped him.

He looked back to see that she had moved over on her bed to make room for him. He sighed knowing that it wasn't a good idea, that when he went back to London in the morning this would all be over, and the reality of it was that things would return back to how they used to be once she was around her friends again.

But even though he knew all of that, he went back and climbed into the bed with her letting her wrap her arms around him and lay her head on his chest, his hand coming around her to play with the curls still done up on her head.

After she fell asleep, Draco found himself not wanting to leave her. He looked down at the girl in his arms and realized that this was the closest he had felt to happy in a long time. He slipped out from underneath her and placed Crookshanks on the bed next to her. He watched her for a few moments before leaning down and placing a chaste kiss on her forehead.

In the morning Hermione awoke to the scent of Draco lingering on the pillow she was sleeping on, and a note on her nightstand in his elegant script.

Granger-

I took the proposal with me, if you aren't ready to come back I understand, if you are though my offer to work in the lab still stands. So does the opportunity to talk to the council yourself, since you would be much more convincing than I could ever be when it comes to those beasts. The deadline is within the next two weeks, so if you choose to come, owl me and let me know. I'll arrange a portkey and a flat for your arrival.

Malfoy

Hermione smiled and put the note back on the nightstand. Somehow she knew her mind had already been made up, even before he had left.


Theo smirked as he walked through the lobby of the Ministry and saw that he was going to have to walk right past Harry Potter on his way out. Harry looked up as he neared and frowned. They had never liked each other much, Theo hadn't taken a side in the war, but Harry had after all put his Father in Azkaban.

"Cutting it close to your deadline aren't you?" Harry said when he had come close enough to talk, assuming the reason Theo was there was to talk to the Department Head about the Centaur issue.

"Actually were going to do just fine. Draco came back from his little vacation this morning, with a secret weapon that looks like it's going to win us the land." Theo said knowingly.

"What secret weapon? The only way the Centaurs are going to let you have their land is if you kill them first." Harry rolled his eyes.

"Well I don't think it's going to come to that. Draco seems to have been working with someone, whose close to someone on their council, for the past two weeks." Theo's smirk couldn't get any bigger.

"The Centaurs don't even speak to humans let alone the likes of you. The only one whose ever spoken to anyone is Firenze and the only people I would consider him close with are Ron, Hermione and I now that Dumbledore is gone." Harry said.

Theo was wrong, his smirk got a whole lot bigger. He stood there and watched joyfully as realization dawned on Harry's face, and he laughed when Harry started shaking his head.

"You're lying." Harry said, his voice low. They were already starting to attract attention.

"I'm not. She'll be back here soon enough, and to think it was Draco that got her to come home. Although it doesn't surprise me given the compromising position I found them in when I went to see him. Now if you will excuse me I have work to attend to." He said, walking away.

Harry blanched not really knowing how to feel. On one hand he was extremely excited for Hermione to be coming home, on the other that's where Draco had been all this time. He shook his head and squinted his eyes in confusion. He really hoped Theo was lying about the compromising position.


Author's Note: Haha little does Harry know. Whew that was a long one! Since it was supposed to be part of the last chapter anyways. Please review! Please please please? I love hearing what you guys think!