Hermione woke up early and started her usual morning routine before realizing that it was Saturday and she had to be happy because tomorrow was Sunday and she couldn't wait for it to be Sunday. She dressed in a sensible pair of slimming black slacks and a deep red turtleneck jumper with a pair of oxfords. She looked at herself in the mirror, entirely pleased with her appearance. She grabbed her coat and scarf and set out for work with an uncanny smile on her face and skip in her step.

She got to the shop just about the same time as Colin, which was a first.

"You're here early, what's the rush?" She asked teasingly.

"I sort of crashed when I got home from work yesterday and went to bed so early that my body just went ahead and let me sleep the normal number of hours so I woke up at 3:00 and have been bright and chipper ever since. I can say that I've had probably the most productive morning of my life." He laughed but certainly did not seem happy with the outcome of his premature bedtime.

"Well I'm very sorry that you finally found the time to do something with your life. When you finally grow up and become an adult I'm sure you'll find it's somewhat refreshing and useful." She said as she sifted through a pile of books that had been left by one of the wingback chairs.

"Thanks for that, really makes me feel loved and appreciated." He said with an obviously joking snide tone.

"I'm sure you do." She laughed as she made her way to the front door to flip the little golden sign.

Draco woke a bit later than usual, 8:00 was late for him, but was soon hitting himself over the head for not wasting away more of the day in sleep. Now he had to somehow make his way through the entire day. Oh well. He was meeting Potter in Diagon Alley at 2:30 as they had arranged after work the previous day. Harry said he knew some good shops in a not-so-busy part of Muggle London where Draco could do his shopping and Harry would help him navigate the Muggle world.

Until then, he had plenty of time to do whatever he wanted. He got ready and dressed in his usual work clothes and headed down for breakfast by 9 o'clock. He made himself an omelette, which he was thoroughly proud of, before starting on a list of rooms to go through for the deconstruction process.

He set off for his father's old study as he assumed he would find plenty of reprehensible things to dispose of in there. He brought a pad and quill to jot down things that had to go, and there was very little that he had not written down. He walked through the halls writing down specific paintings that were altogether atrocious and persian rugs that had seen better days. Of course everything in the Malfoy home was of impeccable condition, but it was all so old that there was an abundance of items that deserved the term "seen better days". He also hadn't occupied many parts of the house for months on end, so everything was terribly dusty. There used to be house elves that would deal with things like that, but Draco had set them all free before he left for Azkaban. He had felt immensely guilty after Dobby's death and it was not below him to say that his opinion of house elves had changed, though his father would be appalled.

After about an hour of walking through the halls of the Manor, Draco wandered into the library. He loved books, but there were so many it was almost mad and a great deal of them were most likely not of the greatest subject matter. Draco went shelf by shelf writing down names of books that he thought were either ones to keep, find a new home for, or burn. As some of them were so incredibly irredeemable, all he could think of was to burn them.

It took him an abhorrently long amount of time to finish the library. Once he finished he looked up at the small grandfather clock on the mantel, which read 12:54. The day was, thankfully, flying by rather quickly. He thought he ought to just pop off to Diagon Alley for a bit of lunch and then stop by Flourish and Blotts to see if they'd take some old books. He made his way back up to his room to get a coat, his wallet, and wand, before heading down the stairs and into the fireplace.

He was standing at the apparition point into Diagon Alley by 1:00 and set off for The Leaky Cauldron, as going to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop seemed ridiculous. He seated himself at the bar a few minutes later and ordered himself a firewhiskey and a bowl of stew, which seemed to be some of the only good food they sold. He ate his lunch silently and was out of the sleazy place within 45 minutes.

Draco walked down to Flourish and Blotts from there. He had hoped it hadn't changed much, he had always loved that shop and he had heard it had come under new management after the War. He hadn't caught who it was that owned it now, he had heard two ladies talking about it at the Ministry but hadn't ease-dropped early enough to hear any names. Without a second thought, Draco opened the door to Flourish and Blotts and stepped inside with a ring of the bell at the top of the door.

He only saw a few people browsing the shelves upon shelves of books, it was a cold day out and the Alley was barren, so he wasn't surprised to see a somewhat vacant shop. He glanced at the mahogany staircase off to his right that led up to the small top floor. His gaze followed the swirling bannister until it reached the balcony that used to be home to school books.

It was then that he saw her. Hermione Granger, sticking some books back into place on the shelf. She looked the same, slightly more mature and maybe even taller. Then again, he was looking at her from a distance and not the most desirable angle. She turned from the shelf as if she was about to make her way down the stairs and Draco hastened to the counter in the most inconspicuous way possible. He didn't want an awkward confrontation with Granger as she would most likely reprimand him for breathing and then chase him out of the store. All he wanted was to talk to the owner or whoever happened to be there about selling some books.

He stood awkwardly by the counter for a minute more before she slowly made her way around the back of the counter, looking at him with daggers in her eyes and pursed lips.

"Malfoy?" She asked with obvious venom in her voice.

He gulped slightly, "Hello, Granger. You are aware they usually only let employees behind the counter, right? I never thought you a rule breaker especially in a book store."

"I'm the owner, Malfoy. If you have a problem with the way the place is run you can take it up with me, but in my store, the owner is allowed behind the counter."

He froze and gulped again, this time trying to swallow back anything words that may set her off. "Oh Merlin…" he muttered to himself, "Look, I'm trying to maybe find a new home for some of the books in the library at the Manor. They're good books, in good condition, and I'm sure you'd have customers willing to buy them."

"Probably not if they came from the home of a former Death Eater." That had been a bit biting and he felt slightly angered and hurt at the remark, but he remained civil nonetheless. She seemed to have noticed his discomfort and he thought he sensed a bit of guilt and regret in her face. "Why are you trying to get rid of them anyways?"

"I've decided I'm done with the Manor and I'd like to rid myself of a lot of horrid memories. I'd like to see what I can do with the possessions that deserve a second chance and I thought books a good place to start."

"Done with the Manor? Like you're moving into a different mansion or you've decided to spruce the place up a bit?"

"Done with it. I'd like to destroy it and build a new home on the land." He said pointedly.

She sighed. "How many books are you looking to sell?"

"Probably around the 250 mark I'm assuming."

"250?" She gasped. "I mean that's a good lot of books but it also means I'd have to buy them off of you which would be incredibly expensive. Probably less expensive than providers..." She seemed to be talking to herself at this point and figuring things out outloud.

"I could just donate them, I have plenty of money I really don't need to sell them."

"No, I'm not going to accept you charity. Plus, I'm a businesswoman and that's not how business works." She said firmly, Draco rolled his eyes slightly and sighed before she continued. "How about I pay off an agreed price in increments?"

"Will you take the books off my hands if I agree?" He said, this was his last resort and he wanted the books out of his house and he wanted himself out of this shop.

"Deal." She said after a moment's pause.

"Thank you. Is 60 galleons a good price?"

"I think that's perfectly acceptable."

"Good," he tapped the counter with his hands in a sort of pseudo-celebration, "and goodbye Granger." He saw one last moderately sinister glare before turning and walking out of the shop.

Hermione had not expected to see Draco Malfoy in her shop, perhaps ever. Which was a bit ridiculous now that she considered the fact that she was one of the only wizarding book shops in a convenient radius of wizarding Britain and that he was after all a wizard. A wizard who liked books, nevertheless.

She stood, leaning against the wall behind the counter, completely perplexed and letting off excess steam. Colin came up to her about two minutes after Malfoy left. He seemed very tentative to come within a three foot distance of her.

"Hermione, I don't mean to be rude, but what on earth was that about?" He asked in a soft voice so as not to disturb the customers.

She looked up at him and took her time in talking, "Draco Malfoy is going to sell us some of his old books. 250 of them. I agreed to pay him small increments of money to pay off the large amount as I would not accept a donation. I feel as if I've just sold my soul to the devil."

"I'd say that's a pretty spot on feeling." He said matter-o-factly. "How long has it been since you've seen him?"

"I don't even know," she shook her head in response, "I know I saw him during the Battle of Hogwarts, that I remember vividly. But I don't know if I ever saw him in person after that until now. I remember seeing him in the Prophet and reading about his sentencing but I don't think I've seen him since he was walking across the Hogwarts courtyard to join the Death Eaters."

"Well, that shapes up for quite an afternoon doesn't it? Shame Hannah couldn't be here." He said, his humor never failing him even in a moment of pure confusion.

"A true shame." She replied, staring at the spot Malfoy had been standing in not five minutes before.

Thankfully, Harry had shown up in Diagon Alley early, so Draco didn't have to linger. They set out on their shopping trip to somehow attempt to save Draco's wardrobe for tomorrow. Draco told Harry the whole ordeal on the way.

"I haven't seen her since the Battle of Hogwarts. I tried to be as civil as possible but she just doesn't like me. I don't think she sees me as even a little bit redeemable."

"Well consider this, she's much more willing to come round than Ron ever will be, so be glad it wasn't him you ran into."

"I am eternally grateful that Weasley is so disgusted by me that he refuses to come to the clerk's office, ever. I'd rather not have to deal with him on a daily basis or even a monthly basis at that."

"Exactly. Be glad it was Hermione. Plus, she's an incredibly forgiving person if you get to know her."

"She'd have to forgive me in order to get to know me." Draco said in exasperation as Harry had clearly not thought through that answer.

Harry simply shrugged his shoulders, "I suppose yeah. Though, Hermione might not be at her happiest right now. Hannah Abbot used to work for her at Flourish and Blotts and she quit maybe two days because she bought The Three Broomsticks."

"Why would anyone want to buy The Three Broomsticks?" It was a good pub, but owning it must be hell.

Harry chuckled. "Hannah's engaged to Neville Longbottom and he works at Hogwarts so she thought she'd get a job where she'd be closer to him and he could come see her on weekends and such. I think it's a good plan. But anyways, now Hermione is stuck at the shop with just Colin Creevey, who's a nice bloke and apparently a really great worker, but I'm imaging she's a bit stressed about filling in Hannah's position, and missing her friend."

"I suppose that would make sense, plus she was at work when I encountered her and I imagine that's when she's most stressed." Draco replied as they walked down a street in a quiet part of Muggle London.

"That and Hermione and Ron just broke up. From what they tell me it was very amicable and mutual but breakups can be hard. I think you just caught her at a bad time."

"Yeah, I've been catching her at bad times for the past nine years of our lives." He said with a bit of a laugh, Harry chuckled at this as well.

"Anyways, this is the shop I was talking about." Harry said as Draco stared up at a sign with a boring family name and a drab paint job. They walked into a medium sized shop with racks and racks of men's clothing. "I think this is what your mystery lady was talking about." Harry said as he made his way through the maze of sales tables and metal hangers of various sizes. Harry pulled a dark forest green jumper off a white table that had been perfectly folded. "Ah, just your color too." He said as he held it up to Draco's pale complexion.

Harry double checked the tag to see if it was his size before handing it to Draco. Harry made Draco pick one other color, what he said Ginny called "variety in an unchanging wardrobe". Apparently she believed firmly in the concept of buying multiple colors of the same piece so you can pick one thing you like but still have plenty of options. Draco unwillingly picked a dark red, going against everything he stood for, at the pushy suggestion of Harry. It was going relatively smoothly in spite of that and it was quiet in the store. From what Draco could tell, there was no one else in the store besides a middle aged man with a newspaper perched behind a white wooden counter.

Harry pointed out a few other things to him that he decided he didn't like. Harry had told him that he probably needed more than jumpers to walk away with and convinced him to buy a chambray button up. Not unlike one he had seen Harry himself wearing multiple times in the past. He also made Draco get two pairs of slim jeans, in both their natural denim and a black, which Draco was quite pleased with. They finally came to the jackets and after much deliberation, Draco picked a sensible navy and a dark olive.

"I think you're set." Harry said, looking pleased as punch he had talked Draco Malfoy into a red jumper. Draco went up to the counter to purchase and within minutes, they were on their way out and back to their respective domains, Draco altogether pleased at the success of the afternoon.