A/N: Sorry for the delay, I write when I can. Sarahostervig suggested I write in advance, and honestly, I try, but my life has been crazy for ages, my schedule is seriously overwhelming. I wish I could write more, it is a passion of mine and a great way to vent for me. I'll try updating at least once a week from now on, though, as my workload should ease up pretty soon. :)

Sorry for any mistakes, I'll go back and edit tomorrow. It's 3:25am here. Enjoy. :) coughreviewcoughf&fcough... :D

Draco was waiting outside the Leaky Cauldron, mentally checking off the things he had to take care of that day and smoking one cigarette after the other, when she walked up to him. He didn't notice her arrival at first, until that annoyingly grating voice spoke up.

"Wow, you smoke almost as much as I used to." He whipped around and had to tense the muscles in his jaw to keep it from dropping. It was like the Yule Ball all over again.

Hermione Granger stood in front of him, and boy, did she look good.

She was wearing a bright orange coat which wasn't buttoned up, so it revealed a navy dress which clung to her chest and stomach and flared out in folds at the hips. The neckline wasn't low-cut, but the material changed just above her bust into a silky, see-through white fabric with navy polka dots scattered across it. To top it off, she had on a white cardigan and navy wedge heels with white dots. It all complemented her skin tone perfectly, and the honey colour in hair, which was done up in a deliberately messy bun, was accentuated as well as her eyes.

She looked... beautiful. He shuddered internally just for thinking the word.

Meanwhile, Hermione was just looking at him and clearly thinking, what the hell is his problem? She snapped her fingers in front of his face after unsuccessfully calling his name to get his attention back. His eyes went back into focus.

"Malfoy, can we go now, please? You might not think so, because your world revolves around you, but I've got things to do."

"Sh-sure...", he mumbled. No snarky remark? Hermione was definitely intrigued.

They stood there awkwardly for a minute, Hermione's curiosity growing with every passing second and eventually clearing her throat.

"What? Oh yeah..." He grabbed her forearm, a lot gentler than she would have expected, and turned. They landed on a street with a familiar-looking shore in the distance. She couldn't for the life of her pinpoint their exact location.

"Where are we?"

"Scottland", he replied without bite – or looking at her. This is getting eerie, Hermione thought.

"Oh I knew it! Isle of Skye, right?" He nodded.

Let's try this again... "Okay, where to?" He pointed to a little restaurant a few yards away and they walked in silence. Her breath caught when they entered. The interior was gorgeous. The walls were made of a sort of uneven stone in brown-variations and adorned with electric torches and beautiful paintings, the ceiling was white with dark brown beams, the chairs and tables were equally brown and glossy. It all just looked so perfectly classy. It figured someone like Malfoy would enjoy eating there.

And he probably did so quite frequently, because she hadn't even had the time to look around properly before a blonde tall waitress walked brusquely towards them and with a "Good afternoon, Mr Malfoy. Table for two today?", took their coats and put them on a couple of hangers. Then she turned back around to them.

"My name is Rebecca and I will be your waitress today. Please, let me show you to your table."

They sat and ordered, Malfoy "his usual" and Hermione some sort of baked fish with something or other – even the names sounded much too fancy for her taste, so she chose to pick the one which was the least complicated.

"So...", she began. "How were things after you left yesterday?" It was best to just get straight to the point, she decided. Malfoy was acting really weird and it made her oddly uncomfortable, she wanted to get away as soon as possible.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. He had a breakdown." Maybe that was why he was so distracted. Then the meaning of his words caught up to her.

"Wait, what? Why?"

"I'm not sure. He apparently realized he made a noise in front of you, and he freaked out."

She considered this for a while. She thought he had made progress with her, and really he had. Her approach was a good one, she firmly believed that. But he still didn't trust her; she never expected him to after two sessions, that would have been truly miraculous. Absorbed in her musings, she didn't realize Malfoy was talking or even that their food had been brought to them until he nudged her lightly in the shoulder.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"Where did you zone out to?""

Like he's one to talk.

"I was merely contemplating what you told me right now. This is hard to figure out since he can't talk to me... Did he give you any reason at all? Mentioned anything?"

"If you had been listening, you'd know." Wow, Hermione marvelled, so mature.

"Then don't help me help your son. It's actually not really my problem."

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Merlin, freak out, would you? It was a joke. And it's really your problem now, too, because I employed you, and when Draco Malfoy tells you to do something, you do it." Hermione raised an eyebrow. That was more like him.

"First of all, you are nothing and will never be anything but the little boy who pissed himself in the Forbidden Forest that one night we went out there with Hagrid."

"Freaking You-Know-Who was there!"

"Oh you know you weren't even there for that anymore. And you didn't know it was him either. I wouldn't be surprised if y- wait a second."

Malfoy looked down at his lobster ("of course that would be his usual") and a tinge of pink appeared on the smooth pale skin of his high cheekbones. Hermione gasped.

"No. Freaking. Way. You did not actually...?!"

"I recommend you shut up and eat, I already pay enough for nothing by paying you", he said in a shaky voice. She tried to keep her face solemn, or the laugh that was building inside of her from bubbling out of her mouth, but then she opened her mouth to reply that she was a) doing a fine job so far and b) she would rather bury herself alive than let him pay her meal – and it came shooting out of her.

"OH MY GOD! YOU PISSED YOUR PANTS!", she cried with mirth.

"Will you shut your mouth, woman? Merlin's pants, you think being beautiful gives you the right to do anything, don't you?"

Hermione instantly stopped laughing and stared at him in shock. Then, Draco's eyes widened as he realized his mistake.

"Oh, shit. Fuck, I didn't mean that. Women in general are like that, you know? Because all women..." He started rambling, hoping against all odds that she would believe him. All she did though was narrow her eyes at his generalization of women and "their" behaviour, before she grinned and shook her head.

"Listen, I didn't hear anything, okay? This is about your kid, not our... differences, or anything else", she offered, because – well, it was true.

"Agreed. How has he been in those two sessions, anyway?" She briefly described Scorpius' distant behaviour and shyness, which kind of lightened for split-seconds at certain points made or prospects.

"Any idea on how to move forward, to make him... really progress?" In that moment, he really looked like just another young father, worried sick about his son. It was endearing.

Endearing? Really?! What the hell, Hermione?

"I have one. Since he can't talk to me, and I won't force him to, maybe you could act as sort of an ambassador between us. I'll write you a list of questions you could ask in my stead, and instructions of how and when to best pose them..." She trailed off to let the idea sink in. It only took a second before Malfoy nodded.

"Anything I can do, I will do. I... never want to see him like that again. He's too young to have already dealt with so much, and he deserves for it to be over."

A soft smile stole its way on Hermione's lips before she could stop it. Fortunately, she did have enough restraint to quell the sudden urge to take his hand. They politely bid each other goodbye, Hermione promising to owl him as soon as she could, and made their way to their respective destinations.

As soon as he was in his office, Draco called Blaise in. The man entered and upon seeing his best friend's horrified expression, instantly threw a "What happened?!" at him.

"Something truly, purely and ineffable terrible."