Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, esp. Draco. If I did, I won't be writing in here and it'll be better if I'll just be off marrying him then. Haha! Sadly, he isn't mine. They all belong to my hero, JK Rowling.

Chapter 4

"Hydrangeas and Roses"

"Good morning Ms. Granger…"

"Good day, Ms. Granger…"

Hermione smiled at her employees as she went inside the boutique she co-owned with Ginny.

This was just one of the many branches they had in Europe.

She looked around and couldn't believe that two heartbroken hearts could actually lead to this kind of success.

Never in her life did she ever dream of having her own clothing and fabric industry. She was even sure that her old self would have found it very shallow. She had always wanted to be a healer before and had always dreamt of doing something significant and momentous like discovering some kind of a liquid remedy to a certain incurable disease, or maybe make a huge discovery or theory about a certain phenomenon in the field of Magical creatures. Never once did she ever dream to be an owner of a very popular fashion line. She had never even been fashionable before. Hell, she didn't even know anything about fashion before.

It's funny how fate would play with you, and how things could happen for a certain reason.

The war had ruined Ginny's relationship with Harry. She had realized that after everything and no matter how much she'd try to chase the possibilities of them being together, she couldn't hide from the fact that Harry Potter would and always be Harry Potter and she would and always come second from the world.

After the war, both Ginny and Hermione were left with broken hearts.

The one because of realism, the other because of stupidity.

It was ironic how Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of their age, actually fell under stupidity.

Until now, thinking about it made her feel very small.

It was also one of the main reasons why after the war, she went with Ginny to leave and travel for a while. Ginny wanted to get away, and so did she. Harry, however, enrolled on an Auror program while Ron joined the Chudley Cannons Quidditch team. They have kept in touch, of course; just enough to have the comfort that they still had each other, and just enough to also forget the heartaches and pain brought by everything.

Those two years of travelling actually changed Hermione's life for the better. She had also loosened up a bit and had even allowed Ginny to give her a make over. Hermione couldn't believe how that single day changed almost everything.

Frankly, she just allowed Ginny to do it for her because she wanted to forget everything. Every time she would look at the mirror, all she could remember was the girl who had fallen deeply in love with the very person who thought that she was ugly and worthless.

She couldn't help but think that this girl was really stupid.

Hermione Granger knew she wasn't pretty but she had always been proud of her intellect, but because of him, she couldn't help but to also question it.

He took almost everything.

He didn't even care enough to spare.

She wanted to get away from that same empty girl he left off.

Those two years of travelling with Ginny, however, had changed that girl, not just physically but as well as on a lot of aspects on her life. She once thought that she had already known almost everything through her books, but there was actually a huge difference between knowing something, than feeling it.

It was amazing that learning everything by yourself through different people, different cultures and different places could lessen the leak of blood through her wounded heart. Every day was a new experience with her best girl friend. They found new friendships through strangers, new beliefs on each country, new lessons, new funny experiences and new… love.

Hermione and Ginny actually promised each other that for those two years of travel, they'd both stay single to avoid complications. They started the travel with two broken hearts; they didn't want to end it with the same path all over again.

When the travel was done and when they started their first semester on their University life, however, Hermione knew it was finally time to let go.

She had a lot of suitors and admirers, of course, but she was cleverer now to allow her heart to rule over her mind.

She had promised that she wouldn't ever make the same mistake again.

This was why she had turned down the endless offers of marriage from her long time boyfriend, which led to their breaking up…

"Aren't they beautiful, Ms. Hermione?" Sapphire, Hermione's young secretary beamed by the time her boss entered the office.

Her office was filled with beautiful red and white roses, and with her favourite flowers Hydrangeas which looked like magical snowball puffs in fall. She smiled as she touched its petals with delicate pastel hues. She felt like her office was suddenly transformed into a magical romantic place, with little heart shaped Belgian chocolates all over, in which again, were her favourite.

"Whoa! Did cupid just drop by?" Ginny uttered by the time she went inside Hermione's office.

Hermione just shrugged as she stared at the bouquet of flowers and smiled. By the time she had read the note, however, her smile turned into an angry glare.

"They're so beautiful! Are they from Oliver? Goodness, that guy never gives up, does he?" Ginny beamed dreamily as she smelled some roses, and playfully placed one on her ear.

"They're not from him," Hermione replied quietly and snatched her hand away from the note and the flowers' petals as if they burned her.

"Hmmm… Who's DM?" Ginny frowned as she took the note; "We haven't even been a week in London and you happen to get yourself a new admirer? You're clearly unstoppable, girl!" Ginny chuckled as she waved the note in front of Hermione in a teasing manner.

"At least I'm not like someone in here! Not a week back and she suddenly has a new boyfriend," Hermione giggled when Ginny's face had flushed by the mere mention of her new beau.

"For your information, Seamus and I have been writing with each other before and he'd visited me a few times at Paris too. And it's not as if he's a stranger or something. We went to Hogwarts with him and—" Ginny suddenly stopped as a realization struck her. Her eyes were bulging into the note as if they were ready to pop out.

"Oh my…"

Hermione just nodded and smiled wistfully at her.

"H-How? When? Oh goodness. I really don't know what to say," Ginny said as she embraced her friend.

"Come on, Gin. It's not like it's a big deal or something," Hermione shook her head, trying to look fine as she arranged some of the files on her desk to appear busy, or rather to hide the fact that her hands were trembling.

"But Hermione, I'm just—"

"Sapphire, honey, will you please take all these flowers out of my office? I have a lot of work to do and they're very, erm, distracting…" Hermione smiled at her secretary gently while ignoring Ginny's worried stares.

"Where would you like me to place them, Ms. Hermione? They'll look really lovely at the boutique's window and—"

"NO!" Hermione suddenly shouted, which made both girls stared at her in surprise.

Ginny looked sorry, while Sapphire looked plain scared. Her boss had always been very kind and had never shouted at her before.

"I-I'm so sorry. I'm just a little stressed right now. I'm sorry about that," Hermione stuttered as she placed her trembling hand on her forehead.

"It's okay Sapphire; you can do whatever you like to them. Just—well, ask the others to take them out of the boutique as soon as possible please," Ginny smiled at Hermione's confused secretary.

Hermione, however, was suddenly fixing her things, ready to get out.

"Where are you going?" Ginny asked, studying her friend worriedly.

"I just need some air. When I get back, I don't want to see any evidence that these gifts were even in here," Hermione muttered and had hastily went out of the room without a backward glance.

"D-Did I say something wrong, Ms. Ginny?" Sapphire asked uncomfortably.

"No, it's okay. She's just… a little stressed right now, that's all…"

888

Theo was grinning, again.

Yet, this time it was just because he just found something too amusing and funny. Too comical, actually, that he just had to snatch a book and fling it right on his best friend's head.

"Aw! Shit, Theo!" Draco hissed as he massaged his head. He was sure a huge bump would be appearing on it later.

"Couldn't help it, mate. You look pathetic," Theo laughed and ducked to get away from a colossal hard-bound book tossed back at him.

"You could have at least thrown a paperback at me, you know! I could have an internal hemorrhage and just die worrying on you hitting on my own mother!" Draco shouted at him, irritated of the fact that Theo was able to dodge away from his seeker reflex throw.

"Well, Mrs. Malfoy is a very lovely lady," Theo winked teasingly at him.

Since Theo had no family anymore, he would often come and stay inside the Malfoy Manor. He had even been very close with Draco's mother to the point that sometimes, Draco was even quite jealous of their relationship, though, frankly he didn't really mind. He had already considered Theo as his brother.

"What the hell are you doing anyway?" Theo smirked, even if he already knew what it was.

The house elf had told him that Draco was inside his study room so he decided to take a peek for a while. He couldn't help but be amused of the fact that Draco seemed to be intently and keenly studying something, in which he was sure was the files he had just ordered from their subjects… files regarding some facts about a certain belle…

"Damn, you really did take my clock is ticking comment to heart," Theo chuckled as he snatched one of Draco's researched papers.

Before Draco could speak however, Theo had thrown the paper into the table and placed his hand in front of him, indicating that he wasn't done talking yet.

"In which I think is a good idea, for your sake anyway… because I really meant that comment," Theo continued, making Draco grunt and glare at him; but had just carried on with his reading.

"What? No comeback?" Theo chuckled.

Draco just smirked at him, a knowing evil look was on his icy grey eyes which made Theo frown and study him more furtively.

"Draco dear, I'm done. I'm so sorry for making you wait, honey," Narcissa Malfoy had suddenly emerged by the library's door.

"Oh, hello Theo dear," Mrs. Malfoy smiled at Theo when he kissed her hand.

"You look amazing, as always, Mrs. Malfoy," Theo smirked at her.

"Ah… so sweet, as always," Narcissa smiled back.

"Always the charmer," Draco muttered while rolling his eyes.

"Where are you going, Mrs. Malfoy?" Theo asked sweetly while ignoring Draco.

"Oh! My handsome son and I are going on a date today," Narcissa replied excitedly.

"Yeah, and I have her for myself so you can't come," Draco told his friend smugly. Theo didn't know if he was talking about his mother or someone else.

"Oh don't be rude, Draco. Don't worry, honey, you can always come with us next time. Today, however, Draco promised me some surprises and a good old mother and son bonding time, isn't he sweet?" Narcissa smiled giddily as he patted Theo's cheek, earning a snicker from Draco.

"Oh really? Where are you two off to?" Theo smiled through gritted teeth while suspiciously glaring at Draco, trying to decipher what it was he's planning this time.

"You know, mother, I know this certain boutique that you'll really love…"

888

A/N: I'm so sorry if there are a lot of false updates. I seriously had a hard time uploading this chapter and I don't know why, something to do with my fonts and everything. Anyway, thank you so much for the new reviews! Especially to those who always review on each chapter. Really, it means a lot to me. Every time I have a blank thought when I sit down in front of my computer, I'd first read all your reviews and they give me more motivation to write faster. I like the fact that some of you could actually relate to the story, esp. the last chapter. Guys can sometimes be jerks, right? Haha! Gosh, I don't want to sound like a bitter man hater, haha. I just want to say, however, that not all guys are jerks, or if they are right now, they haven't just matured yet. I had a bad day yesterday and I think your reviews would really make me happier! Pwease?

Anyway, thanks for the new reviews for the last chapter guys, and really, I'll keep all of them in mind:

waterflower20

IHeartEru

Sin-and-Smokin

Andrea B

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dreadfuldelights

Magnus Bane Is My Hero

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IGOTEAMEDWARD

Sapphire1031

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By the way, I really love the name "Sapphire". It's actually my birthstone together with Hermione Granger. Isn't it cool? I also saw this name from the reviewer Sapphire1031, so I thought I should place it in my story.

Kisses to all of you! Love, Sue