Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story and make no money from this work. It's just my fantasies I'm compelled to write. I owe it all to JK Rowling for creating such compelling characters for me to play with.

Ron had found the address Harry had written down in his folder. He copied it down and shoved it in his pocket and left quickly before Harry came back. He realized he was marching into a battle that could have dire consequences, but he didn't care. At first he'd just hated Hermione for breaking up with him. But that feeling faded, because he loved her too much to hate her. That's when all his hatred and venom turned towards Draco. He'd always hated him. And now he really hated him. He still wasn't convinced he didn't put Hermione under some kind of love spell or something. He wouldn't put it past him. It just made no sense. Hermione had always hated Malfoy too. She never had a kind word for him and didn't much give him a second thought. Why would it be different now? Because he'd supposedly changed? Ron didn't buy it. A leopard doesn't change it's spots. He was doing this for Hermione, just as much as he was doing it for himself. He didn't want to see her get hurt. And Malfoy was trouble. He would hurt her. Ron was sure of it. And he didn't want to give him that chance.

He apparated himself into a London alleyway, not far from Hermione's place. Draco was close by. He wasn't that familiar with London but he had a map. And it told him just where to find Draco's building. He walked quickly before he could lose his nerve, fuming the whole way. He didn't want to lose the fire that propelled him along on this mission. He was going to make sure Draco regretted ever crossing him. He wasn't sure what he was gonna do yet, but he'd figure it out when he got there. He approached the building and went upstairs in the lift. Draco was on the top floor. He walked down the hallway and found his door. He put his hand in his pocket and clutched his wand tightly before he pounded on the door.

Draco was sitting on his sofa playing video games when he heard the pounding at his door. He wasn't expecting company. Hermione was at work and she always just apparated inside his flat. She never used the door. And neither did his mother. Was it his father? He doubted that. His parents had no reason to pop by because he'd agreed to the dinner. He decided to just ignore it. But it wouldn't stop. It just kept getting more persistent until he heard someone shout at him through the door.

"Open up Malfoy! I know you're in there!" Ron shouted.

Draco got up and looked out the peephole. Great, he thought. It was the Weasel. How the hell did he find him? And more importantly, what the hell did he want? Draco opened the door quickly and stared at Ron.

"Will you keep your voice down? I have neighbors, you know," he said with annoyance.

Ron just pushed him back and marched into the room and slammed the door behind him. Draco just stared at him with amusement. Was he supposed to be scared, he wondered?

"What can I do for you, Weaselbee?"

"You could start by giving me my life back, you stupid fucker."

"Give you your life back? You look plenty alive to me," Draco pointed out.

"You know what I mean. You took Hermione from me. I don't know what you did to her or how you convinced her to drop me for you, but undo it. Undo it now or else you'll be sorry," Ron told him angrily as he pulled out his wand and aimed it at Draco.

Draco just looked at him and didn't react. Didn't this moron ever give up? Did he really think he was going to be afraid of him?

"Put your wand down, Weasley. I'm not going to fight you. And I didn't do a bloody thing to Hermione. Nothing except get to know her and talk to her. It's not my fault she fell for me."

Ron didn't put his wand down. He just moved closer to Draco, trying to intimidate him. "I want her back. She's too smart to just fall for you because you told her some sob story about how Voldemort made you do bad things. You chose a side and it was the wrong one. Own up to it like a man and stop acting all tortured and mysterious."

Draco turned his back on Ron and went to the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of whiskey and took a sip. Then he reached over on the counter and grabbed his wand. He calmly walked over to Ron and pointed it at his throat.

"Get out of my house. Now. Don't make me hurt you," he said icily.

"Hurt me? You can't hurt me anymore than I'm already hurting. Go ahead, Malfoy. Do your best," Ron said, dropping his wand hand down and surrendering.

Draco considered this for a moment. An invitation to hurt Weasley? It'd be hard to pass that up. But he thought better of it.

"Right. I get it now. I get pissed and throw some curses at you and bloody you up a bit. Then you go run to Hermione and tell her what an evil bastard I am. Nice plan. But it won't work. I said I wasn't going to fight you," Draco told him, lowering his own wand.

"Well you're stupid then," Ron told him as he raised his wand and shot the Levicorpus spell at Draco.

Draco flew through the air and hung suspended upside down by his ankle. He was startled momentarily but then he only laughed.

"Nice one. I'm really quaking in my boots now, Weasley. How will I ever get out of this mess?" Draco said dryly, right before he shot his own curse at Ron. He stupefied him and Draco fell back down to the ground, but he righted himself quickly.

He stood over Ron and stared down at him. Ron just laid there staring up at Draco with blank eyes. The spell had rendered him useless.

"I could have done a lot worse you know," Draco told him with a sigh. "But you see, I'm a changed man."

The spell started wearing off and Ron tried to get up again. Draco aimed his wand and shot a non verbal body bind curse at Ron, rendering him unable to move.

"Not so fast. We need to have a few words. Now that I have your undivided attention, let me explain a few things to you," Draco told him as he twirled his wand between his fingers. "I love Hermione. And I think she might love me. I don't know yet. I'm still working that one out. But I did not put a spell on her. She's with me because she wants to be. And I'm sorry, but she's mine now. You lost her. And I found her. And frankly, you just need to get over it because this is pathetic. Even for you."

Ron stared at him blankly, because it was all he could do. He was paralyzed. But he heard every word. And it started to sink in. There wasn't anything he could do to get her back. She was gone.

Draco sighed and lifted the body bind curse. He sat down on the sofa and watched as Ron struggled to get to his feet again. When he did, he still had his wand pointed at Draco. He still wanted to hurt him. But he had only had the guts to shoot some stupid levitating curse at him. He should have used something better but he said the first thing that came to his mind. But right now he was remembering the spell Harry had used on Draco in the bathroom. Sectumsempra. That would hurt him for sure. It was right on the tip of his tongue as he stared Draco down, annoyed by how unaffected he was by his presence. But he couldn't do it. Ron just didn't have it in him to do it. Harry was right when he said that if he hurt Malfoy, Hermione would freak out and probably hate him. He'd already lost her. He couldn't incur her wrath. Plus he just wasn't the type of wizard that could knowingly hurt someone like that. Even if it was his worst enemy. Ron finally lowered his wand and gave up.

"Fine Malfoy. You win. I give up. I don't even know why I came here," Ron said with defeat.

"I don't know why you came here either. How did you find me anyway?"

Ron shrugged. "I have my ways. But it doesn't matter because I don't have the fucking guts to hurt you the way I want to. It would only make Hermione mad."

Draco got up and went to the kitchen again and picked up the glass of whiskey. He walked over and handed it to Ron. "Drink up. It'll numb the sting of rejection a bit."

"I don't want your whiskey," he said putting it down on the table. "It's probably poisoned."

"You watched me pour it. I didn't poison it."

"I wouldn't put it past you."

"I told you, I'm a changed man. Believe it or not, people can actually feel remorse for their actions and do something about it."

"So I'm supposed to believe you're one of the good guys now?"

"Hermione thinks I am," Draco pointed out.

"She's delusional. I've got your number. You may have won this time, but I have my eye on you. Hurt her and I will come back and next time I won't be merciful. I will hurt you."

"Got it. Potter threatened to cruciate me if I hurt her. And what do you have in mind for me?"

"Sectumsempra," Ron said strongly.

Draco's eyes narrowed and he shook his head. "You wouldn't dare."

"I would. I almost did it right here. Right now."

"Fine. If I hurt her, you can slice me up like a Christmas ham. I don't care," Draco told him. "And if you're not drinking this," he said picking up the glass of whiskey, "then get the fuck out of my apartment. Now."

Ron stared him down for another moment, then he just turned on his heel and stormed out of the room. He slammed the door as hard as he could and then he took off, cursing himself for not even making a dent in Draco's ego. He hadn't changed. He was still a git. Just because he didn't actually harm him didn't make him good. But he gave up. Hermione was on her own. If she trusted this guy, then that was her fault for being naïve. Ron would just sit back and wait for Draco to inevitably screw up. And then maybe Hermione would come back to him? It was his only option now. To just wait.

Draco met up with Hermione at her flat before they were to go to dinner at his parents. He sat on her sofa as she rushed around trying to figure out what she wanted to wear.

"I told you, love, the outfit you had on before looked fine," he called out to her.

"But it makes me look frumpy. I want to look better than that," she called back to him.

"It's just my parents. They don't care what you wear."

"Of course they do. If I look ridiculous they will only hate me more."

Draco sighed and petted the cat. Hermione was really stressing out about this dinner. So much so, he didn't have the heart to tell her that Ron had come by his place earlier. He didn't think she needed to know about it. At least not right now. It would only upset her further, so he kept it to himself.

"We're going to be late," he called down the hallway.

"I'm almost ready!"

A few moments later she walked out wearing a blue dress with matching shoes. It wasn't fancy, but it was nice. She stood there waiting for his reaction and he smiled at her.

"That looks perfect," he told her.

She held up a strand of pearls against her neck, "Pearls or no pearls? Are pearls pretentious? Or do they say I'm sophisticated and grown up?"

"I'd say it's all of the above. Remember my parents like pretentious things," he chuckled slightly.

"Right. Pretentious. It's a good thing. I'll wear the pearls." She fastened them around her neck and then took a deep breath. "I'm really nervous. Perhaps I should drink a shot of something first? Or take a soother? I might pass out."

"It's going to be fine. Besides my parents have liquor. The really good stuff. My father drinks 100 year old bottles of Cognac."

"Doesn't it go bad after a hundred years?" she wondered.

"No, it makes it better. One bottle costs more than your apartment probably."

"Oh God. What if I don't use the proper fork for something?" she thought suddenly.

"Will you please calm down? My parents know your family is Muggle. They know you're not rich. They don't expect you to act like someone you're not. And I don't want you to. I want you to be Hermione Granger. I want them to see in you what I see in you," he told her sincerely as he went over and kissed her forehead.

"Alright, alright. I'm being silly. I just want to make a good impression. I know they think Muggles are beneath them and they probably expect me to eat with my hands and burp at the table. I just want to show them I'm not like that."

"They already know you're not like that. Let's just go, okay? Before you have a nervous breakdown. And just remember. Be yourself. You're perfect."

She smiled at him and gave him a kiss. "Thank you."

He took her hand and they disapparated to Malfoy Manor. They couldn't actually enter the grounds because his father had charms set up against intruders. But they did manage to land at the gate. Draco spoke some Latin words into the mouth of a gargoyle perched on the gate and it opened right up.

"What did you just do?" she asked him.

"I unlocked the gate. You can't get in unless you know the password."

"What was the password?"

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," he smirked at her.

She made a face at him and shook her head. "Let's just get this over with."

They marched up the long driveway towards the front door. Hermione stopped short when she noticed something big and white moving across the lawn.

"What is that?" she asked, pointing into the darkness.

"It's a bloody peacock. My father keeps them as pets."

"A peacock? I've never seen a white one before."

"They're everywhere. But luckily they don't bite," he laughed.

Hermione just shook her head and kept walking. They got to the door and Draco opened it up and ushered them inside. The place looked different than Hermione remembered. Although she had only really seen the drawing room and not much else. The place was quite beautiful, but she feared to touch anything. It all looked like a museum to her.

"You actually grew up in this house?" she asked quietly.

"Yes."

"Were you ever allowed to play with anything or were they afraid you'd break some priceless treasure lying around?"

"I played often enough. Mostly outside. Plus my room wasn't filled with priceless treasures. It was filled with toys."

She tried to imagine a little Draco running around this house as a small boy. She couldn't picture it.

They walked into the living room and both his parents were sitting there with glasses of some sort of liquor in their hands.

"Draco, you made it. And not a moment too soon. We were just enjoying a brandy before dinner," Lucius told his son. He stood up and walked towards the pair. "You must be Hermione Granger then?" he asked looking her up and down.

"Yes. Yes, I am." She held out her hand to him and he shook it lightly.

"You've met my wife, Narcissa, I hear."

"Yes we've met. It was quite embarrassing actually," Hermione admitted as she looked at her feet.

"Don't be embarrassed dear. We're all grown ups here," Narcissa smiled. "Would you two like a brandy?"

Draco nodded and Hermione figured she'd just go along with it. She'd never had brandy before and knew she probably wouldn't like it. But she'd drink it anyway.

Lucius poured the drinks and handed them over. Then he sat back down and motioned for the two of them to find their seats. They sat together on a sofa and quietly sipped the brandy. It burned Hermione's throat going down, but she rather liked the fuzzy feeling it gave her afterwards.

"So what is it you do, Miss Granger? Lucius asked her. "My Draco here doesn't do anything."

"Father…"

"Well it's true isn't it? You loaf about, sponging off of us. I'm sure your companion has chosen to do something else with herself."

"I work in a bookshop," Hermione told them. "Just for now anyway. I was offered several positions at the Ministry, but I wasn't quite ready to settle down into a career."

"The Ministry? Very impressive. I do remember Draco telling me once that you were quite smart. Beat him in all his classes."

Hermione laughed slightly. "Well yes, I did do well in school. I worked very hard."

"So did I," Draco remarked.

"Yes, well, the Ministry wasn't exactly offering you up a position now were they?" Lucius shot back.

"Is that where you'd like me to work, Father?"

"It would be a fine choice. Good for the family name. A Malfoy working at the Ministry would do wonders."

"I'm sure someday it might be an option," Hermione interjected. She really had no idea if Draco stood a chance at a job like that. Not without completing his education. She was only offered because of her role in the war. But she wasn't going to bring that up.

"So why are you living in London? Draco says you're a brilliant witch. Why would you move to London?"

"I just needed a break after everything that happened. I wanted to go back to my roots I guess," Hermione answered quietly.

"Draco wanted to pretend he wasn't a Malfoy. It seems we've shamed him. But such is life. You make a few bad decisions and suddenly your own son deserts you."

"Will you please attempt to be nice, Lucius?" Narcissa interjected. Her husband was using every opportunity he could to admonish Draco and put him down. She wouldn't stand for it. Especially not with company there.

"You're right, Cissy. Forgive me. We're not here to talk about our son. We're here to meet Miss Granger."

"Well you've met me. I don't know what else there is to tell," Hermione said feeling unsure of herself.

"Is dinner almost ready?" Draco asked, sensing the tension in the air. His family had nothing to talk about that wasn't a jab at him.

"Yes, I do believe it's ready. Let's go to the dining room, shall we?" Narcissa said, getting up from her chair.

Draco and Hermione followed them into the dining room. Draco leaned over and whispered to her, "See, my father is more mad at me than he is at you. I think he likes you more than me right now."

"I don't know. He's not very pleasant," she whispered back. Not that she expected him to be pleasant. She knew enough about him to realize that the word pleasant was never used to describe Lucius Malfoy.

They sat down at the table and a house elf appeared instantly.

"Would Master and his guests like some wine?" the elf asked.

"Yes, I think we would, Tippy. Do bring the bottle I purchased this afternoon."

"Right away Master," Tippy said as she disapparated quickly.

"You still have house elves?" Hermione asked with a slight tone of annoyance in her voice.

"Of course. Why wouldn't we?" Lucius laughed slightly as if it were an absurd question.

"You know when I was in school I started a group petitioning for house elf rights. It was called S.P.E.W."

"Spew? What does that mean?" Lucius asked curiously.

"The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare."

"Sounds…interesting."

"I didn't think it was right that house elves were treated unfairly and didn't get paid. And some of them were often abused. Like Dobby," she said pointedly.

"Dobby? That old elf? The one Harry Potter stole from me?"

"He didn't steal him. He set him free. You were cruel to him anyway. He eventually got a job at Hogwarts where they actually paid him," she said with a smug look.

"Paid him? House elves don't want to be paid. They enjoy serving their masters. And I did not treat Dobby cruelly," Lucius insisted, getting annoyed with Hermione.

"Yes you did, Father. You always kicked him around and hit him over the head," Draco reminded him.

"I did not."

"You did too. Plus you made him punish himself whenever he did anything wrong. I had to stop him from bashing his head against the wall several times."

Hermione looked at Draco. "You actually stopped him from doing that?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Well I just didn't know you cared about house elves."

"I don't. Not really. But there's no sense treating them poorly. I rather liked Dobby. He kept me company on my summer breaks."

"I just realized something. You're the one who told Dobby about Harry," Hermione said with a smile growing across her face.

"What do you mean? I didn't tell him about Harry."

"Yes you did," she insisted. "Dobby tried to save Harry's life and he said he'd heard of his greatness. We never knew who would have told him that. It certainly wasn't your father."

Draco turned red and looked down at the table.

"You spoke to a house elf about the greatness of Harry Potter?" Lucius asked slightly horrified.

"I might have mentioned him. But I wasn't saying how great he was. I was saying how great everyone else thought he was. I thought he was a prat."

Right at this moment, Tippy appeared with the wine. She poured it for everyone and said the food was coming shortly. Before she could leave again Hermione addressed her.

"Tippy, do you enjoy serving your master?"

"Oh yes, Miss. Tippy is most happy to serve."

"Wouldn't you rather get paid for your work?"

"Paid? You mean like money?"

"Yes."

"What would Tippy do with money? Tippy just likes to please her master," she smiled.

"See? My house elf is not treated poorly. She's quite content. Are you happy now, Miss Granger?" Lucius asked her.

Hermione shrunk down a little in her chair. She felt stupid. "I'm happy," she said quietly. "Thank you Tippy. You can go now."

"Dinner is coming," Tippy assured them right before she disappeared again.

Draco looked at Hermione and whispered to her. "Why are you talking about house elves? Are you trying to make my father angry?"

"I'm sorry. I just feel very passionately about this. I couldn't keep my mouth shut," she whispered back.

Draco just sighed and wished she hadn't brought up Dobby. The last thing he needed his father to know was that he spoke of Harry Potter to a house elf. Or anyone else for that matter.

When the food arrived, everyone ate in silence. It was deafening. Hermione had made a huge faux pas going on about elf rights. She had no idea why she brought that up. No one else ever cared except her anyway. She finally had to break the silence.

"The food is wonderful," she said with a smile.

"Yes, Tippy is a masterful cook," Narcissa smiled back.

"She should teach Draco how to cook. He's dreadful in a kitchen. He set my toaster on fire."

Draco's parents looked at each other for a moment and then they both laughed slightly.

"I can't imagine Draco in a kitchen," Narcissa said.

"A man doesn't belong in a kitchen anyway," Lucius added.

"Well he does if he lives alone. How else shall he eat?" Narcissa asked him.

"I usually eat out," Draco told them.

"Do you cook, Hermione?" Narcissa asked curiously.

"Me? No, not really. I mean I can cook some things. But I'm no house elf."

"You two should think about getting a few elves then. I could send you some. With just Cissy and I, we don't need them all anymore."

"No, that's alright. But thank you," Hermione told him.

"I don't need one either. I'm fine on my own," Draco said.

"Suit yourselves. You know, Miss Granger, you could pay yours if it would make you happy."

"That's okay. I don't need an elf. My flat is small enough without thinking where to stash an elf."

It was quiet again and Hermione could hear herself chewing. It was maddening. But she had no clue what to speak to these people about. And she could tell they thought the same of her. It was very uncomfortable. Finally the dinner was over and they all retreated back to the living room to have an after dinner drink. Hermione felt like she could use it.

"So do you still speak to Harry Potter?" Lucius asked Hermione.

"Yes. All the time. We're very good friends."

"I see. That boy was quite surprising, I must say. Escaping the killing curse twice? It's unheard of. Do you know how he did it?"

"Uh, no. Not really. I don't even think Harry knows for sure."

"Interesting. Well he had luck on his side. As I suppose we all did. Defeating the Dark Lord was no easy task. I didn't think it could ever be done."

"Were you disappointed?" Hermione asked him pointedly.

Lucius just looked at her for a moment. Then he finally spoke. "I'm sure Draco has told you about the way we were treated by him. I realized perhaps a bit too late that I had aligned myself with a true monster. So no, I was not disappointed. I was rather relieved. I think I can say we all were."

Hermione didn't know what to say to that. He seemed sincere. Just like Draco did when he talked about it. She was really beginning to realize that Voldemort had tormented the Malfoy's greatly and that they weren't willing servants to his wishes like she used to believe.

"But we don't speak of those days anymore around here," Lucius continued. "We'd all like to put the past behind us."

"Yes. I agree," Hermione said.

There was some more small talk after this, but for the most part, no one knew what to say. Draco finally ended the evening by saying Hermione had to get up early for work. It was a lie, but he wanted to leave. He'd obliged his parents by taking Hermione to meet them, but he didn't really know what it accomplished. But as they were about to leave, his parents asked to speak to him alone. He was reluctant to leave Hermione's side, but she urged him to go along. So he followed his parents into the study and awaited their move.

"So…I suppose this evening was a bit awkward for all of us," Lucius told Draco.

"You could say that."

"But we like her, Draco. She's lovely," Narcissa assured him.

"Yes, she is something," Lucius agreed. "She certainly isn't afraid to speak her mind."

"No she's not. It's one of the things I love most about her."

"I still think you should consider Astoria," Lucius said off hand.

"Father, we've been over that."

"Fine, fine. I suppose the Granger girl is acceptable. At least for now."

"It's not just for now. It's forever."

"Forever?" both his parents said in unison.

"Yes. Well if she's willing. I don't know how she feels. But I don't have any plans to let her go."

"Well before you go talking of forever, you should at least see that she shares your vision. Don't get your heart broken," his mother told him.

"It'll already get broken if she doesn't feel the same for me. There's no stopping it. But sometimes you have to take a chance."

"There will always be other girls," Lucius reminded him.

"Yeah, but I only want her," Draco said seriously. "I have to go now. Hermione is waiting. Thank you for having us."

"Anytime dear. We'll walk you out," his mother smiled and took his arm.

Draco's parents walked him back out to the other room where Hermione was waiting. They said their goodbyes and watched the couple leave. Once they got outside Hermione turned to Draco.

"So? Did they hate me? I'm pretty sure your father hates me," she said with a sigh.

"No, he likes you. He said you were acceptable."

"Acceptable? Well that's a glowing review," she laughed slightly.

"For him, it is. Trust me. But I know my mother likes you. They were both surprised at how well you spoke your mind," he told her.

"I hardly think my personal mission about elvish welfare went over very good."

Draco laughed. "I don't know what you were on about with that one, I have to admit. I mean, Spew? It sounds like someone being sick, not an organization."

"Well I couldn't come up with anything else," she said defensively. "But it doesn't matter. I gave up on that awhile ago. No one else really seemed to care that much except me."

"House elves are usually quite happy. Trust me. I grew up with them."

She turned to face him and put her hands on her hips. "But what about Dobby? He wasn't happy. He was miserable. And then your insane aunt killed him. The poor creature."

"Dobby's dead?" Draco asked, not realizing that such a thing occurred.

"Yes, he's dead. Your aunt Bellatrix threw a knife at us as we were escaping and it hit Dobby."

"Oh. Well that's unfortunate," Draco wasn't exactly sad per say, but he didn't wish his childhood elf to be dead. He wasn't sure what else to say.

"It was unfortunate. He saved our lives."

"Well then I hope wherever he is, he's resting peacefully."

"Me too. It was really quite sad."

"Come on, let's go," Draco said, changing the subject. It was uncomfortable for him to talk about deaths that occurred during the war. Even if it was just a house elf.

They were outside the gates now and could safely leave.

They ended up back at Hermione's and she quickly threw off her shoes and tossed them across the room.

"Help me unzip this dress, will you?" she asked him. "I can't wait to get back into comfortable clothes."

He walked over and unzipped the dress and kissed her bare shoulder. "You don't really need any clothes, do you?" he asked suggestively.

"Is sex all you think about?" she asked over her shoulder with a sly grin.

"Yes. Is that a problem?" he wondered, nibbling her ear.

She melted under his touch and closed her eyes. "You're very hard to say no to."

"Then don't say no," he pushed her dress down and it fell to the floor.

"Don't you think we should talk more about how the visit with your parents went?" she asked curiously.

"What else is there to say? They liked you well enough. I did what they asked. And now they're thankfully nowhere in sight. So let's just forget about them," he urged her as he turned her around and kissed her hungrily.

He had wanted her all evening and now that they were alone and she was in her underwear, there was no stopping him. He pushed her back against the wall roughly and knocked a lamp off a table.

"Draco, my lamp," she uttered between kisses.

"Forget the lamp."

He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around him. He whirled them around and stumbled to the couch where they both fell, nearly taking Crookshanks out before he leapt to safety. Their coupling was frenzied and rough and filled with deep longing. A burning need to be together. To be connected. To be part of each other. Draco had never wanted anyone this much and Hermione felt the same way. Every time he touched her it was like sparks shooting through her body. She couldn't explain it, but she only knew she'd never once felt this way with Ron. There was something so skillful about the way Draco moved and touched her, and his hands were amazing. Not to mention his lips and his tongue. And the way he smelled was like nothing else she'd ever smelled before. It wasn't cologne, it was just Draco. It was as if she were acting on pure animal instinct when she was with him. And he never disappointed her, that's for sure. He made sure she was enjoying herself thoroughly each and every time. Ron never paid much mind to that. Having sex with him was like being humped by a chihuahua sometimes. He was just desperate to get off and thought it was plenty satisfying for her as well. But in his defense, she pretended it was good. What did she know anyway? She'd been a virgin obviously when they got together. She figured that the sex was normal. But now she knew how good it could actually be. And even if sex wasn't the most important thing in a relationship, it definitely mattered to her. More than she realized. Draco had unleashed an insatiable side to her that she didn't even know existed until now.

Finally they lay there on the sofa wrapped around each other, breathlessly panting for air.

"Oh my God, that was good," Hermione uttered trying to breathe.

"It was amazing," he whispered back, as he kissed her again. "It's always amazing with you."

"I can't feel my feet," she laughed happily.

"Then I've done something right," he grinned at her and nestled his face into her neck, just breathing her in.

He rolled off of her and laid on his side to face her. He smoothed her messy hair out of her face and just looked at her.

"I know you don't really believe me, and I know you've never said it to me…but…I love you," he told her sincerely.

"I believe you," she smiled at him. "I just don't believe you always loved me. That's too twisted to believe."

He ran his hand down her cheek. "I don't know. Some part of me thinks it's true. I mean, sometimes I thought about nothing else but you. Even if the thoughts were mostly bad. I still couldn't get you out of my head."

She laughed. "So thinking bad things about me meant you loved me?"

He shrugged. "It's probably stupid. You're right. It's just you were sort of an obsession to me. It used to drive me bloody mad. I could never break you no matter how hard I tried. It was frustrating."

"You wanted to break me?"

He nodded. "Of course. It's what I did back then. I broke people down. I was an idiot. And it's crazy, because I hated the lot of you, but I spent more time obsessing about you and Potter than I did anything else. It's embarrassing really."

"You obsessed over Harry?" she laughed at him.

"Not like that. I just couldn't fucking stand him."

"Well there was this one time when you were up to no good of course, and Harry wouldn't shut up about you. Every other word out of his mouth was 'Malfoy this' and 'Malfoy that'. So perhaps you both are suited to one another. Maybe I'm not who you really want?" she teased him.

"Oh shut up. You're disgusting. Don't put vulgar images in my head," he made a face and scoffed at her.

"I'm just joking."

"I know. But don't. It's disturbing on many levels. I need to scrub my brain out with bleach."

"Alright, alright. I'll shut up. But I think it's funny."

"You're warped."

"Yes, but you like that about me."

"I kinda do," he admitted with a grin as he leaned over and kissed her once more.

They were silent for a time while they just laid there together holding each other. Draco finally decided to break the silence and tell her about what had happened at his place earlier. She was much more relaxed now so she could probably deal with the news better.

"There's something I should tell you," he began, looking at her.

"What?"

"You're probably going to be mad."

She sat up slightly and frowned at him. "What did you do, Draco?"

"I didn't do anything," he said defensively. "It's more about what someone did to me."

"What are you talking about? Who did something to you?"

He sighed. "I had a visitor this afternoon. I'll give you three guesses as to who it was."

She stared at him blankly for a moment. "Harry?"

"No. Thank God. Although that might have been better. It was your old boyfriend."

"Ron? How did he know where you lived?"

"I don't know. He wouldn't tell me. But he stormed into my flat with his wand waving around as he yelled at me. It was pathetic really."

"Did he hurt you? Did you hurt him?"

"No. Nobody got hurt. But he wanted to hurt me. He came there to make me pay for what I did. But all he did was levitate me into the air upside down like a dimwit. I could do that spell in my sleep when I was twelve."

"What did you do to him?"

"I stupefied him and then I did the full body bind curse on him. He dropped like a statue. It was kind of funny."

"Oh Draco, why did you do that?"

"What would you have me do? He was threatening me. I didn't hurt him. He said he was going to use Sectumsempra on me! Can you believe it? And don't defend him like you defended Harry, because Ron bloody well knows what that spell does now. And still he threatened me with it. I'm the wronged party," he said heatedly.

Hermione just shook her head and laid back down.

"Why did he even confront you at all? What did he say?"

"I don't know. I wasn't listening. But he thought I had you under a spell and he wanted me to undo it. So I paralyzed him and had a small chat with him and then I told him to fuck off."

"I'm sorry he came by your place. I would say I should talk to him again, but I don't think that will do much good."

"Yeah, just leave it alone. I think he got the picture. About bloody time. He's a sore loser."

"Well wouldn't you be too?"

"Yeah," Draco admitted. "Of course I would be. I just didn't appreciate your ex marching into my private home uninvited."

"I have a feeling I know how he found you," Hermione said, with her wheels turning.

"How?"

"Harry probably told him."

"Harry? He knows where I live? You told him my bloody address?"

"No of course not. I don't even know your address. I've only apparated there. But Harry is an Auror. He can find anyone. It's what he does. I swear, I'm going to throttle both of them if they don't quit meddling in my life," she said with irritation.

"I never thought I'd see the day when my parents were more welcoming than your friends are. They barely freaked out at all by me bringing you to their house, but your friends are making threats and hunting me down like an animal," he said angrily.

Hermione covered her face and sighed. "It's just going to take them some time. They don't know you like I do. And Ron is simply hurting. That's all."

"You shouldn't always defend them," Draco said with annoyance.

"I feel like I have to. I'm the one who caused this mess. They're simply reacting. I don't know what you expected they'd do when they found out. We both knew no one would throw us a parade."

"I know. I just wish that they'd believe I was different now."

"Why does it really matter to you what they think?"

Draco thought for a moment then shook his head. "I don't know. It's not like I wanna be fucking friends with them. I just want them to stop thinking you're crazy, that's all."

She touched his face and held it in her hands. "I don't care if they think I'm crazy. It doesn't matter to me."

"Doesn't it?"

"I mean, of course I wish things were different. But Harry isn't ever going to like you, I'm afraid. And Ron? Well it wouldn't matter if you were just some random guy he never met. He'd still hate you right now. So not much would be different there."

"I'm gonna make sure that this is worth it to you. That I'm worth it. I promise you that I'm going to be good to you. I'll give you everything. And maybe one day you'll even love me back," he said softly, looking away from her.

She didn't know quite what to say to that. She wanted to tell him she loved him too, but she wasn't sure yet. It was all too confusing. Love and lust felt very much the same sometimes. But he was in her heart. She knew that much. She didn't know when and was confused about how, as well. But he'd managed to enter her heart and grab a hold.

She leaned over and kissed him softly. "I already think you're worth it." And she meant that. She just hoped he believed her.

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