HappyCup: I totally agree. Haha I'm glad you like the way I've molded Hermione's personality. I wanted to try something different from most fics, which is why I don't concentrate the story solely around Draco and Hermione, although they are the mains. With more people in it, it makes the story more whole I think.

Tessa Cresswell: Haha yes he isn't, his mind is behaving on its own accord and driving him totally insane!

Miu Mi: Congrats, you were right! (Y)

Ginny walked through the broadcasting station, looking proudly at the new drama series she had just completed. It was going to be a hit; she had a good feeling about this one. All around her people were frantically pulling images out of pensieves and editing them, cutting out the unwanted scenes. They had about another hour before it was due to be on air, and it would run through this huge broadcasting pensieve they had that was connected to the special pensieves people bought to watch the programs. Ginny was about to tell her producer that she was cutting out the wrong section when her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Miss Weasley? This is Jane. We have a new assignment for you, quite a big one. It's a singer's first music video and he's going to show his face for the first time, you know, that unknown singer?"

"Oh? Hmm, this music video has to outdo the previous ones I've done then. Who's the mystery singer?"

"You might know him, he went to Hogwarts with you. You can't disclose anything about his identity until the music video is aired though."

Ginny's heart started beating faster as she asked as calmly as she could, "Who… Who is it?"

Please, oh please, please don't be…

"Blaise Zabini. Do you know him?"

Ginny's heart dropped. It was him. She would see him again. Elation and dread filled her, fighting to take the top spot as the dominant emotion. Ginny had half a mind to reject this assignment when her mother's words rang through her head, "You need to move on." It had been too long, perhaps seeing him again would remind both of them that they had grown up and the past was behind them, perhaps they could be friends again.

Ginny took a deep breath, "No, I didn't know him personally. Tell his manager to contact me directly so that we can sort out the details and-"

She stopped as she saw someone walk through the door. Life was cruel. She hadn't seen him for ten years, and now, immediately after hearing that she was going to be working with him, she wasn't given any time to prepare her heart for meeting him once again. Blaise walked in, still every bit as handsome as she remembered, and she felt as though her world was about to start spinning.

"Keep calm, Ginny. Play it sophisticated and cool. He's moved on with his life, don't let him see any hint of weakness."

Blaise stopped in his tracks when he saw Ginny, a flicker of recognition in his eyes before his defenses crashed down and a mask of indifference slid onto his face. The two stood there for a moment, so brief that anyone walking past would not have noticed, yet they could feel the tension and unspoken words building up between them.

Finally Ginny broke the silence, "It's too late to avoid each other now I guess." She smiled as she took out a mirror and checked her reflection, smoothening her hair, "You look like you've lost a little bit of weight. Oh my, if I'd known that I was going to see you here, I would have made more of an effort."

Blaise looked at her coldly and said, "I thought you were overseas."

"Oh, I just got back. I fly around a lot to shoot movies, dramas, music videos, everything. Been meeting all sorts of different people, it's really interesting. Why are you here?"

"I want to check out the place where all my future videos will be aired."

An awkward silence fell between them as they ran out of pleasantries. Clearing her throat, Ginny put on her sunglasses coolly and said, 'Well I have to go. I'm sure that we'll have plenty of time to catch up later."

Blaise didn't reply as she brushed past him, his face totally emotionless, looking like the old Blaise she had once known, not the one that the entire world knew now.

As Ginny turned the corner, she leaned against the wall and took off her sunglasses, her heart twisting. Did he not feel anything at all? How could he look so indifferent, as though he had totally forgotten about her? It would have hurt less if he had at least shown some emotion, but now she felt like such a fool. He evidently didn't care about her anymore, his famous relationships had all been true after all. Blaise was no longer the man she once knew and loved.

Before she started sobbing, Ginny fled the building and apparated home, where she could cry all alone and no one would know.

Draco hurried out of Pandora after changing into comfortable training clothes. He told everyone that the meeting for the day was over because he had something more important to attend, and despite the long list of things they had yet to discuss, nobody had objected. Looked like his reputation hadn't entirely been tarnished by his slip up, thank goodness. That Hermione was going to be the death of him without her even knowing.

When he apparated to The Magical Creatures, he saw all the rookies heading out of the building to where a few portkeys were located. His interest piqued, he walked quietly behind them, so as to make sure that no one, especially Hermione, noticed him. He didn't have any intention to train of course, he had brains so that he wouldn't need to use brawn to make a living, but he wanted to see what training was like. Plus he had assumed that training generally took place inside their training centres, looks like everyone was going out for a field trip today. Just before the portkey left, Draco quickly reached in and put a finger on it, trying as hard as he could to maintain the connection and complete the flight. He didn't want to end up stranded in some unknown area.

When they landed, it was a mess. Because of the sheer number of about twenty rookies, it was a tangle of arms and legs as everyone tried to sort themselves out. Luckily Draco had been the last to touch the portkey so he landed on top of everyone. He slipped away quietly and hid behind a rather huge tree, surveying his surroundings. It looked like they were in front of some sort of memorial building. Strange, why were all of them here? Weren't they supposed to be fighting it out with some monsters or sprinting till their lungs gave out? With his curiosity heightened even further, he followed them in and as Hermione ordered everyone to line up in six rows, he went up to the second level and stood behind a pillar directly above them.

Everyone was quiet as they moved, in respect of the dead around them. It felt very solemn, as Hermione began to speak, "This person before us was Edward Ramson, one of our teammates who passed away two years ago. He was not only Director George's mentor, but a teacher to us all." She paused as the rookies' eyes were downcast, their bodies still. Hermione continued, "The work we do bring neither fortune nor fame. Though our seniors can offer advice and guidance, they cannot give us money and honor. To some, we merely do the dirty work they would never want to do, and to others, they pity us for having a job like this, so dirty and sweaty. But regardless, we love working with these creatures and they bring us a joy that others cannot comprehend. This knowledge is our one and only pride. We constantly risk disability and death, so if you are not sure whether this is the job for you, you can quit now. This is not a threat, but the truth I am giving." Their eyes still downcast, nobody moved as they stood quietly. Hermione smiled, "Lift your heads up high everyone, there is nothing to be ashamed of doing what we do, and keep the words of this senior in your heart."

Draco felt hollow and sick. He had been one of those people she had mentioned, people who looked down on their job. His heart ached as he realized what kind of a jerk he must have appeared to her. Hermione's work must have been extremely important to her, yet all he had done was shown disdain for it. But at the same time, he still wanted her to quit this job. He was worried, because like what she had said, all their lives were in danger. And at the moment, he couldn't bear the though of anything happening to her. He wanted to keep her out of harm's way, but he didn't know what to do. As everyone walked out of the memorial building, he stayed there, thinking and trying to sort things out, but feeling more confused than ever.

"Good job guys! The first training is always the toughest but you guys managed to get through it! For cool down, it's a hundred jumping jacks and-" Hermione stopped as she caught sight of Draco leaning on the wall at the doorway and frowned. Everyone followed her gaze and saw Draco, before looking back at Hermione curiously.

Draco strolled over as he smirked and gave a mock salute, "Reporting for duty, ma'am."

Hermione glared at him before barking, "Rookie, why are you so late? Go and join the others, I have no time to deal with you today. Anyway, as I was saying, a hundred jumping jacks and a hundred sit-ups. If anyone is slacking, you will start again from zero." Looking at Draco, she said, "In particular, everyone should keep an eye out for this one and make sure he doesn't slack off, otherwise you could be doing jumping jacks and sit-ups the entire night." With that, Hermione walked off and left Draco to deal with the recruits. She trusted all her rookies to do the right thing; she had personally selected all of them and knew that they had a good heart and moral values. She couldn't say the same for Draco though. Hopefully they would pummel him.

The rookies all turned to look at Draco suspiciously as they started with their jumping jacks and counted, "One, two, three, four-"

"Wait stop stop," Draco put one hand up as his other hand dug around for his wallet, "Gentlemen, today is your lucky day."

Hermione walked down the stairs, drying her hair with a towel and stopped when she saw Draco standing below, his arms crossed. She frowned as she tried to look beyond him into the room and asked, "What are you doing here? Where's everyone? I told them to keep an eye on you."

Draco said, "When women want to attract men, they wet their hair and make it smell like shampoo. I don't get it, you could have just washed your face, why wash your hair too?"

Hermione glared at him and commanded, "Move."

"No."

"I'm not going to ask nicely anymore. Move."

"Make me."

Hermione walked forward and kicked him in the shins as hard as she could, making him yelp and hop around, clutching his leg. She hurried past him and looked around at the empty room, "What? Where is everyone!"

Draco hobbled after her, still trying to soothe his leg, "I gave them enough money to drink themselves silly tonight. I thought we needed to spend more time together."

Hermione whirled around, "Have you gone crazy?" Honestly, men couldn't be trusted. Offer them free alcohol and they forget everything they're supposed to be doing.

Draco shrugged, "I admit, things have been a little strange for me lately."

"If things are strange, go to the hospital. Why do you keep coming here?"

"Because you are the cause. Yesterday you finally changed out of your bloody clothes, but I think today you will probably appear with wet hair."

"What?"

"Doesn't matter. Help me figure out if I'm really crazy. Just stand there until I say you can move."

"Are you sure you aren't already crazy?"

"I'm doing this so that I won't become so. Just answer my questions honestly. Do you have anything notably significant about you? Like perhaps a big stash of money hidden somewhere, or hopefully, own a company? Oh, or maybe, do you have anything that can be deemed as valuable in your possession? You know, something that would be able to justify you being good enough for me."

Hermione felt hurt, good enough for him? Gritting her teeth, she snarled, "You have medical insurance right?" Suddenly moving forward, she did a judo throw and slammed him onto the ground over her shoulder.

Draco was too surprised to react and groaned in pain as the wind was knocked out of him. He tried to stand up but Hermione did another judo throw and he hit the ground harder this time. Draco coughed and his back was seriously starting to hurt. He tried to breathe normally and assess where the pain was coming from, it seemed to be everywhere. Hermione glared at him, "Don't you dare to complain, this is just the beginning." She moved to pick him up again, but this time Draco was ready and he blocked her attack, countering it and instead managed to push her onto the ground, pinning her arms at the side with his and straddled over her to keep her from kicking him again. Hermione struggled against him and threatened, "You're dead when I get up."

Draco looked down and smirked, "You think I can't beat a girl? There's something I want to tell you so listen carefully-"

There was a commotion as the front door opened and Xander burst in, furious, "My president is a total crazy jerk! He just-" She stopped when she saw what was in front of her, jaw dropping slightly.

Hermione panicked and took the opportunity when Draco was distracted to roughly push him off and quickly stood up, "Why did you come here?"

"Oh, you weren't answering the phone so I thought that you were practicing… Am I intruding?"

"No, not at all. What happened?"

"I got fired today! Just because I came late and bumped into my president, he fired me! Such a meanie!"

"What? Fired?"

Xander continued her rant, and threw her box of belongings that she had collected from her office on to the ground. Draco looked at it and started slightly when he saw the Pandora uniform in it. Looking closer at Xander, he realized that she was the girl who had bumped into him earlier. Draco wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation, clearly she didn't recognize him when he wore trainers and sweatpants.

Xander half shouted, "Seriously! How can he just do that! Total idiot with no kindness in him at all! I hate him!"

Draco looked at her and was about to protest when Hermione said incredulously, "How can he just fire someone like that? We need to do something about this! Didn't you say you were close to the president's secretary? Maybe he can try and salvage the situation."

Xander looked determined and said, "Whatever, I'm going to take revenge on him! I'm going to post that the president is gay on Pandora's company forum."

"Ga… Gay?" Draco choked out.

Xander looks at him, "Yeah, gay. I know he will totally hate that, but what can he do? He can't fire me again. But… Who are you?"

Hermione quickly replied, "You don't need to know. Wait for me, I'll lock up and we can leave. Do you know the secretary's address? We'll go and find him." She rushed up the stairs to get her items from the locker as Xander shouted behind her, "Don't bother. I'm telling you, I already tried everything."

Draco walked towards to Xander and said, "I was just about to introduce myself, I'm the person who has caused all your problems."

"What?"

"I'm the jerk you were talking about, the CEO of the shopping mall you just got fired from?"

Xander scoffed, "What are you talking about? So you're saying that you are the…" Her eyes widened as she recognized him and gasped, covering her mouth with both hands and swallowed visibly. Draco smirked, enjoying her discomfort and said coolly, "You were fired because you were late. You know that's against the rules. Plus you ran into me and spilled coffee all over my shoes, I didn't even charge you for them."

Xander looked obedient and bashful as she said, "Of course sir."

"Good. Anyway, Granger doesn't know that my family owns Pandora, and I'd like to keep it that way. You can have you job back, but I'm a petty person so I don't give out favors just like that."

"Sir?"

"You said that I was gay…."

"Oh! I'm sorry! I was out of my mind earlier, can't I take back what I said? You're classy, smooth, cool, handsome and sexy, how's that?"

Draco smiled, "Now, who would fire an employee like that?"

Xander let out a delighted laugh and agreed, "Precisely!"

"Let's go out for a meal. Convince Granger to come, she will never agree to anything I suggest."

Just then, Hermione came down and said, "Come on, let's go."

Xander hurriedly replied, "Oh, there's no need. Pandora just called, they said that I can have my job back. And you remember what I said about my president being gay? He's not like that, he definitely loves women. Let's go out for a meal together! All three of us!"

Hermione frowned and paused, "What? Why the sudden change? That doesn't really make sense."

"Oh, I don't know what's going on with them, but as long as I get my job back I'm happy! Come on let's go eat, I'm starving!"

Hermione eyed Draco, "Is he coming as well?"

He replied innocently, "Of course. I'm hungry too."

Draco stared at the roadside stall. It was a common shop that the average middle class ate at, but it was something he had never set foot in before. His parents had never even allowed him to look into it, saying that it was beneath them and they only ate the best. Xander and Hermione hurried in, talking excitedly about some girl stuff that he didn't really understand. Wrinkling his nose, he decided to risk getting some disease from entering this place and followed after them.

The two of them were happily eating and chatting away, leaving Draco to look at what they were eating and feel repulsed. Xander looked up at him, "Aren't you going to eat? It's delicious!"

Draco said sarcastically, "What exactly are you eating? I don't understand. Why is a pig a pig? Because of the meat. When you eat the skin all layered in oil, what are you eating?"

"You mean you've never eaten this before? You have to try it! Here, the intestines taste really good too."

Draco looked as though he was about to vomit, "I don't eat these kind of stuff. You freaks."

Since the pork shop wasn't far from their house, Xander and Hermione decided to walk home, which meant that Draco felt obliged once again to walk them home. He walked silently behind them, feeling slightly jealous of the bond Xander had with Hermione. When they reached their destination, Hermione just looked at Draco before walking in, not bothering to say bye. Xander shifted uncomfortably, and gave a nervous laugh, trying to cover for her friend, "Thank you for giving me my job back, and thank you for walking us home!"

"It's fine. I… I don't normally ask these things, but how much is the rent?"

"Oh, we have monthly rent, it's three hundred dollars but we split it."

"Oh. Alright, go in, goodnight."

Xander bowed, more out of habit than anything else and said cheerfully before heading, "Yes thank you. Have a safe trip home!"

Draco stepped back and studied their apartment building again. The cracks on the walls, the chipped paint, the whole dilapidated feel. And the rent had done nothing to help improve the situation. He turned away, unable to look at it anymore, muttering to himself, "You're crazy Draco, totally crazy."

The minute he got home, Draco headed to Blaise's house. They lived just next door, and that meant that they often intruded on each other, and Blaise was just like the brother he never had. Draco entered, only to find him lying on the couch, staring moodily at the ceiling, looking depressed.

"Hey, what's wrong with you today? Get up, I want to ask you something."

Blaise ignored him and continued staring at the ceiling.

Draco walked closer and nudged Blaise with his foot, "Come on, help me out here."

Blaise set up and growled, "Eurgh, I'm having a bad day today. I met someone I really never wanted to see again. What do you want?"

"Have you ever dated a woman who pays monthly rent?"

"What? You disturbed me just to ask that?"

"Yes or no?"

"You crazy person, of course I have!"

Draco looked at him in disbelief, slightly shocked, "Really?"

"What's the name of that model… Uh Stephanie or something, anyway, I met her in May. Oh and a news announcer as well. They paid about, seven or eight thousand a month?"

Draco looked disappointed, "Not that kind of rent… Something closer to three hundred dollars?"

"Ohh… You mean three hundred a night? Like those hotel rooms?"

"That's not what I mean!"

"Then tell me what you mean so that I can answer!"

Draco looked uncomfortable as he tried again, "You know those documentaries we've watched on poor people overseas… Those kind that have flies all over and children running about without shoes?"

Blaise looked thoughtful before saying, "Ahh… Are you talking about foreigners?"

Entirely frustrated now, Draco stormed off and shouted, "You are so annoying! Forget it!"

The next day, Draco arrived at The Magical Creatures around lunchtime and looked for Hermione. This time, he wasn't in his sweatpants and trainers. No, today he had a mission. He wore a suit, and looked very imposing once again. Clothes really did make a difference. He found her with the rookies, teaching them how to treat different wounds they could get from the creatures. Draco caught himself smiling unconsciously as he watched her, the way she talked so earnestly reminded him of the time when she wanted so desperately to answer every single question. Stepping into the room, he cleared his throat loudly and waited for her to notice him.

Hermione looked up and was startled to see him, before frowning again. Draco sighed, what he would give to just get her to stop frowning and smile at him for once.

"It's almost lunch time. I'm sure everyone must be ready, get every single person in this company, not just the rookies. Lunch is on me."

Hermione glared, "Are you here to show everyone how rich you are again, Malfoy? We've already established that long ago."

Draco looked at her innocently, "I know. I wanted to bring you out, but I know that you would never agree, so if I treat the entire company, I'd have a better chance of you agreeing."

Suddenly, Alex appeared out of nowhere and said, "Money making guy! Lunch on you? Sounds great! I'll go get everyone, where are we going?"

"Pandora."

At that, there were whistles of appreciation and shouts of approval. The food at Pandora was top notch and many of them could only dream of eating there. Hermione looked frustrated, torn between wanting to taste the food as well and not going along with anything that Malfoy suggested. Why did Alex always appear at such times? It was too coincidental, but she could not do anything about it. Resigned, she sighed and gave in, "Alright guys, we'll continue when we get back. Lets go for lunch."

Once they reached Pandora, the guys were all ogling at the building, anticipation welling up inside them. Many of them had never bothered going into Pandora since they couldn't afford anything in there anywhere. Draco dragged Hermione to the front with him, and with encouragement from the rest of her team especially Alex, she went to walk beside him miserably. If only George was here, Hermione thought, he would never agree to this. Unfortunately, George was away at some meeting with some film director, and hadn't told them much about it yet.

When they entered the building, Hermione let herself marvel at the sight again. It didn't matter how many times she came here, it took her breath away all the time. Draco sauntered along, looking as though this building was nothing out of the ordinary. As they walked, Hermione noted with discomfort that all the employees were bowing at them. As far as she remembered, the employees here didn't do that. They only bowed when a customer entered their shop and were serving them. They did not come out of their shop to bow at people walking past. And then she noticed, that they were bowing to her, and not really to those behind her. Hermione was about to ask Draco why they were bowing to them when Draco announced, "Alright everyone, this is the restaurant that you'll have be having lunch in."

Hermione peered inside and saw that it was empty, her mind instantly whirling as she calculated how much it must have cost him to book the entire restaurant. She was just about to chide him when the restaurant manager came out and gave a deep bow, "Hello President Sir. The restaurant is ready, are these your guests?"

Hermione gaped a t Draco. Pres… President? What was this guy talking about? Wasn't Draco the CEO of Malfoy Enterprises? This was Pandora. Or… Was he the president of two huge companies? Hermione's mind was going into overdrive and her mouth was dry as she croaked, "You… You're the president of Pandora as well?"

Draco turned towards her and smiled, "Well, I did tell you that I was brilliant."

This chapter is longer than the rest and I updated this super soon because I finally had some free time. Hope you liked it! Please review! ^^