Chapter 10

After she was out of Draco's line of sight, Hermione rushed to the Ladies and enclosed herself in the nearest cubicle. Collapsing on the closed toilet seat, her false courage when facing Draco deserted her, but the feeling of elation hadn't.

He remembered her!

Well, he obviously didn't remember everything or it would have been clear from the start, but something in his subconscious memory must have shown him an inkling of what they had gone through. He had called her 'Mione' and no one, even from this reality had ever called her that and Draco certainly wouldn't. And the way he had looked at her ... it was as if she were the last morsel on this earth and he hadn't eaten in months.

Hermione had doubted just this morning her ability in winning Draco back, but not anymore. In fact she hadn't been this confident in her entire life. Not just confident in her drive to get Draco back, but also confidence in herself.

The tranquillity of being back in Draco's arms had still not gone away and she relived the moment in her mind again. The feeling of being pressed against him and the look in his eyes when they had been staring into hers made her feel giddy and the stupid grin on her face hurt her cheeks. Gods, it felt good to be happy again, when she had thought at one point that all was lost. Even the panic attack she went through this morning was a distant memory, the feeling of fear completely gone.

Her plan for winning back Draco was forming more solidly in her mind and Hermione knew it was only a matter of time before he was hers once more.

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Rubbing at her eyes and finally lifting her head from the work she was doing, she looked around wearily and realised she was once more the last one in the office. Hermione had just been caught up in her old routine and he had gotten completely lost in her work. She really loved her job and although in this life she hadn't been gone at all, in her reality she had been gone for over a month. She had missed her job and she had missed her friends.

Hermione had met up with Harry for lunch and when she saw him, she surprised him by nearly strangling him with an overzealous hug. They had a fantastic lunch and if Harry sent her peculiar looks throughout the meal, she decided to ignore it.

Her exuberance at being here was so great, she even started attracting stares. What Hermione didn't know was that it her whole being was lit up and the stares she was attracting was mostly from men. She caught a pair of dark, blue eyes across the cafeteria and she nearly jerked in surprise.

Theo Nott was staring at her hungrily and Hermione's cheeks darkened causing her to look away quickly. He didn't remember, did he? He wasn't supposed to know her and want her; it was supposed to be Draco. Speaking of the devil, Draco had come out of nowhere to sit with Theo and as Hermione was subtly looking over at them, she could tell Theo was talking about her as both they both looked over at her table. Draco didn't look too happy as he had glance at her once and never looked over at her again. Theo, however, didn't refrain from ogling her.

Her lunch hour was nearly finished and she had had five minutes to get back to work. Hermione had stood up graced Harry with a kiss on the cheek. His own cheeks darkened but Harry patted her affectionately on the shoulder anyway.

Hermione couldn't help herself so when she turned to leave, she glanced once more toward Draco and found him staring at her, a dark look in his eyes.

He had seen her looking so Hermione just gave him a smile and walked out the cafeteria. There was a definite sway to her hips and a confident tilt to her head as she left.

The new found confidence she had gotten from her life as Mione was astounding and many people noticed this. Men she had never spoken to her before approached her to chat and even subtly flirt with her throughout the day—even wearing her ugly suit!

Hermione felt awkward at the attention but she was quite pleased nonetheless. Not one of them had tempted her, she already knew who the man for her was.

As for Draco, she kept running into him in the halls. This was strange as in the past; it was rare for her to see him much at all.

He didn't say anything to her though, just kept walking in the direction he was going. He had decided to fight their attraction, had he? Well, it wouldn't work, Hermione thought with relish and with a very Mione grin on her face.

She was meeting Ginny for shopping tomorrow morning and instead of feeling the dread normally associated with shopping she felt excitement. Draco had taken her on many shopping trips as Mione and he had an impeccable sense of style for a man, which he had taught her how to implement. The clothes he had bought her were outrageously expensive but Hermione hadn't bought anything in a long time. She had a ridiculous amount of money in her Gringotts vault to blow tomorrow on her shopping trip and blow she would. Her clothes in her wardrobe right now were revolting and she had to replace the lot.

Smiling at the thought, Hermione gathered up her belongings and made her way to the lift. Pushing the call button, she watched the lights at the top change until it reached her floor and the doors open. She walked in and pushed the button to the Atrium. The lift had only ascended two floors before the lift stopped and the doors opened once more.

Draco stood frozen on the other side, staring at her in surprise.

Hermione inwardly grinned and stared back. This was a perfect opportunity.

She could see he didn't want to get in with her if his wary expression gave any indication. She could practically read his mind, she knew him so well. He wanted to wait for the next lift but he wouldn't risk looking ridiculous by doing so. For the first time in Hermione's memory, Draco looked nervous.

'Aren't you going to get in?' Hermione asked cheekily and knew he would never turn down a challenge thrown at him so negligently.

He threw her another dark look which was beginning to become a habit and walked in then he proceeded to ignore her.

Now this would never do, Hermione thought naughtily. Murmuring a spell that would stop the lift for a short time, and Hermione heard Draco curse his luck when the lift stopped between floors.

She moved closer so that he could feel her body heat and when he looked helplessly down at her she slowly ran her tongue suggestively over her bottom lip. Hermione was playing dirty, she knew. There was one thing Draco could never resist, and that was the sight of her lips. Hermione didn't know why but it did things to him. There had been times where they would be eating and when he caught sight of her mouth he would take her on the dinner table, or that time she had bitten her lip in concentration when reading and she had found herself bent over the couch unexpectedly.

As she watched his pupils dilate as he fixed them to her lips this time, she knew she had him.

Without further ado, Draco took her by the shoulders and pushed her against the lift wall. His mouth was on hers in a second and he groaned when she grabbed at his hair and kissed him back the way she knew he liked. His tongue pierced her lips and she pulled it in her mouth and suckled on it desperately.

He growled into her mouth and gripped at her hips, deepening the kiss even more until Hermione couldn't tell where his lips began and hers ended. His hand wondered over her body until it reached her hair, where his fingers immediately plunged into the curls and gripping them. Holding her head still as he ravished her mouth until she knew her lips would be swollen after.

She didn't care; this was what she wanted—this passionate Draco who would take her whenever the motion took him. She couldn't get enough of him and the moist feeling between her thighs could attest to that. She wanted him right now, right here and Draco must have had the same thought as his hands came down once more to work at the zip on the side of her skirt.

Before it was even halfway down, the lift jerked and once more started to ascend. Draco stumbled back as if he were drunk and stared at her in horror.

'What the fuck!' He whispered, his voice husky with want. 'What the fuck are you doing to me? I don't even like you.'

Hermione grinned, not even a little deterred as she slowly ran her hand down her body to pull up her zip and stroke back up to fix her hair. She smiled when she saw his eyes following the movement greedily.

When the lift finally reached the Atrium and they both didn't move to get out, Hermione finally answered him.

'I think you will find that you like me very much, Draco. It would save you a lot of trouble if you would just accept it.'

With that said, Hermione brushed past him to exit the lift, sneakily brushing the back of her hand over his bulging erection and heard him groan our loud.

Grinning like a fool, she once more left with the upper hand and it felt good. Really good.

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'What are you so happy about?' Ginny asked for what felt like the hundredth time. 'You've been grinning like an idiot all day.'

Hermione just grinned at her, 'Can't I be happy?' Hermione hadn't told Ginny what had happened with Draco. The abrupt turnaround would have caused questions that Hermione couldn't answer without a room being booked in St. Mungo's mental ward—right beside Professor Lockhart.

'Of course you can, Hermione. It's just strange seeing anyone look this happy.'

Hermione laughed it off and pointed out the next store.

'That's another thing. I thought you were going to supply me the money and I make the selections. You don't even need me. Your choices have been fabulous. You even look like you're enjoying yourself.'

They entered the store and Hermione went straight to a rack to start passing some clothes to Ginny.

'I think you've finally rubbed off on me, Gin,' Hermione suddenly grabbed a dress off the rack and held it against Ginny. 'This would look fantastic on you. Why don't you try it on?'

Ginny shook her head in disbelief, but took the dress from her anyway. 'This is too weird, but I don't want to complain. I'm having too much fun with this new Hermione. And this is perfect, by the way. Maybe I'll wear it tonight.'

'Of course you should wear it tonight. It suits your complexion perfectly.'

They hit a few more stores and Hermione had bought so many clothes they had to shrink the many bags down in case the sockets in their arms popped out. Hermione had indeed bought an entire, new wardrobe and the minute she got home, she would put her old clothes in boxes for charity.

She had also bought a new cocktail dress in deep red that totally transformed her and for the first time in her life, she couldn't wait to attend a function.

Hermione wanted to also see Draco again as well, and with the thought, her goofy grin was firmly back in place.

Ginny seemed to be reading her mind, 'I can't wait for Draco to see you in that dress. I want to see him ignore you then.'

I wouldn't worry about Draco, Hermione thought. I think you'll find him greatly changed. Out loud she agreed with Ginny, expressing her excitement.

'There is definitely something different about you, Hermione, and I, for one, am ecstatic. Even if my best friend won't tell me the cause of it.'

'Just a change of heart,' Hermione said with a shrug. 'Last night I decided to stop letting life pass me by.'

Ginny looked at her impressed, 'It must have been one hell of a night.'

'You can say that,' she replied, secretly impressed at Ginny's perception. It had been one hell of night.

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