Draco righted them as they stepped through the floo connection into what seemed to be a waiting room. Draco tapped his wand to the panel and a lift door opened,"This way." He instructed leading her by the hand into the lift.
"You're in my neighbourhood," she said softly realizing this was the building across from her brownstone.
"Yes I've seen you jogging on the weekend. You didn't answer my owl when I sent it so I haven't pushed further. Figured I'd done enough damage over the years. Plus Harry swore he'd hex me and have me removed from the service should I try to reach out further than the letter. " he said as the lift jerked to a halt.
"Sorry he has this brother complex and I was ready to forgive you." She offered as he opened the grate and they stepped off and into his entry way.
"You are now ?" He questioned as he adjusted the wards to let her in.
"Jury is still out. I don't know if I remember how to feel anymore." She told him honestly.
"You've had quite the day. We don't have to do this," he offered, while taking her cloak and bag.
"We can skip the Severus part, woo me Malfoy, make me forget my day," she instructed as he led her to his sitting room. It was done in warm wood tones in the furniture with navy walls, she could curl up on the large leather couch and read for hours. It seemed that's what he did there too, a fire place and bookshelves lined the east wall, the North wall boasted a bay picture window and the western wall lead towards what she assumed was the rest of his flat.
"Sit, peruse, read, I'll get the wine." He left towards the kitchen. "I ran over for take away before I came to meet you. I hope that's okay."
"Mmhmm that's fine," she said as she inspected the tomes on the middle shelf. She pulled down two and placed them on his side table and curled into the corner cushion. He had a nice mix muggle and wizarding texts. He walked in with two wine glasses and floating plates behind him. He placed them down on the coffee table and pointed the plates to do the same. "But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads?" She quoted from a book on Albert Camus she had been flipping through.
"Perhaps, In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer, is more fitting for you. It is how I have always seen you." He handed her the glass of wine and she took a long sip.
"How is that? Your winter or your summer."
"My summer, definitely summer." He told her hiding a slight blush behind his wine.
"I know my father told me I was your forbidden fruit." She laughed, for the first time that day it was a genuine honest laugh.
"Lovely, big mouthed godfather." He mumbled. "Well I suppose the cat is out of the bag then, I have found you to be a lovely individual for quite some time even when I really should not have. It really wasn't so hard on me that you were Prince I was set to wed. "
"Mm yes that. Sirius offered to see if there was away we could slip out of that without putting it on our decendants I don't expect him to find anything but it was nice of him to offer." Hermione said playing with the rim of her wine glass. "We are veering back to the forbidden topics again. Tell me about your task force." She instructed putting her glass down and digging in to the plate he had brought for her. He explained how after training he and Harry had moved passed their rivalry and come up with the idea of dark wizard may now be trying to infiltrate the muggle world selling dark artifacts to unsuspecting buyers and trying to pass potions off as miracle cures and of course the random stray pureblood supremacist. They specialized in finding roaming death eaters and used some of tge Malfoy contacts and secrets to keep tabs on suspicious characters. It was more than just regulation Auror stuff, they were the muggle polices magical liaison.
"I know you can't tell me about your work" he said as they both placed their plates on the side table again.
" I can tell you about things that are public knowledge. I work in the death chamber, I'm still studying the veil. Sort of anyway, I've started on rebuilding time turners. Safer ones anyway. Ones that would allow aurors to.. Ouch" she paused while stretching it had been a long eventful day and it seemed her body had decided now was a good time to bunch and pull and bind.
"Come here I'll rub your neck you've probably given yourself a tension knot." She turned and and positioned herself behind him as if it were their most natural pose in the world on just another Friday evening. He began to rub and she finished telling him how her turners would be more like a pensive than the older model. you couldn't go back for a do-over with these making them safer for the wizarding publics use.
He asked her about her childhood, places she'd visited, things she's experienced, careful to steer the conversations towards places rather than people. He told her about growing up in the wizarding world and how he was expected to act and how he'd been groomed to be a certain way from a young age. He told her about the side projects he had planned for the next coming years: how to incorporate muggle technology with out electricty, a preschool of sorts for muggle and magical children before Hogwarts, an etiquette school for muggleborn children to learn wizarding customs and how he was using the Malfoy seat on the board of governors to lobby that muggle studies be updated and manditory for all wizarding family born children. She wasn't sure she was sitting with the real Draco Malfoy this was something people expected out of her and Harry not the son of a condemed death eater.
"So basically, you've had a lobotomy." She said looking over her shoulder where his hands had found a place to rest when she had slumped back against him after the pain had subsided.
"I prefer to think I've seen the light." He chucked "pun intended."
"You certainly aren't the Draco I expected when I came over",she said summoning her wine glass wandlessly.
"You are far less skeptical than I expected." He admitted she finished her sip and he took the glass and placed it on the coffe table again.
"Do you think we could just stay like this a moment. I'm enjoying the easy silence." She mumbled, he noticed her starting to drift off.
"Anything you wish love." He let his voice drop as he softly drew circles into her shoulders again, dimming the lights with the flick of his wand. Once he was sure she was asleep he placed her carefully into his bed and went off to make use of a cold shower and the guest room for the night.
Draco woke slightly disoriented the next morning to multiple owls tapping at the window. He let them in and made sure to pay the Prophets owl and fed them all treats before sending them on their way. He was flipping through his correspondence when his floo came to life.
"Darling, may I come through?" A woman's voice came across the green fire loudly.
"Yes mother but do be quiet." Draco sighed he had put off speaking to the woman the day before to see how Hermione would react to everything.
"You found her darling if the paper is to be believed, where is the girl, unless you have other company?" She crooked and eye brow at him, the only time her son hushed her was when he had a woman in the other room.
"I have found her, she is wonderful anand he is handling this all just a little too well, I don't think it's fully real for her, you will not pressure her. She isn't likely to forgive us so easily. We watched your demented sister attempt carve her up." Draco told his mother sternly in harsh tones.
"I'm aware of what happened its but one of many nightmares I've had to deal with I can only imagine what she goes through. I'm certain she could use some help with those, a friend perhaps. Be her friend and you can build from there. " his mother encouraged.
"She hardly lacks in the friend zone mother. She is Hermione Granger for crying out loud." He scolded agin.
"Friends would be a nice start," a sleepy voice said from the hall. She had smoothed her clothes out and attempted to tame her hair by throwing it into a bun.
"Miss Granger, I'm sorry my son and I woke you." Narcissa said politely to the young girl.
"It's alright Lady Malfoy, I hadn't intended to spend the night but your son was too much of a gentleman to wake me when I dozed off after dinner. I should be going though Draco." She said grabbing her beaded bag.
"Sorry," he told her sheepishly. "Perhaps we can get together again soon you had wanted to know about Uncle Severus."
"I'd like that. Send me an owl." She smiled at him. "Thank you for the distraction last night."
"Not a problem." He smirked.
" Hope to see you again soon Lady Malfoy. " stepping passed them and towards the floo not wanting to make a full walk of shame so to speak.
"Call me Cissa and I would be honoured to have you for tea later this week. I'll send an owl to resolve the details." Narcissa smiled.
"Look forward to it. " she replied before taking some powder and flooing home.
"She seems perfectly lovely," Narcissa said softly. "But that hair is most certainly Marlene's."
"I like her hair," he said softly. "It holds all her secrets. "