"Narcissa's Winter Ball is this Saturday, Hermione." Ginny scolded as the brunette sorted through racks of elegant dresses. "Why on earth did you wait until now to go looking for a dress?"

"I'm the mother of three rambunctious children." Hermione said as she held up a blue strapless dress, frowned at it, and then put it back. Ginny scoffed.

"Nice try. One of those kids is at Hogwarts for another week as is one of mine, and your two are no crazier than Albus and Lily. Your excuse is crap."

Hermione laughed. "Oh alright, fine. I don't have an excuse. Can you just help me pick out a decent sapphire blue dress, please?"

"That's oddly specific. How come?"

"Well… It has to match a necklace that Draco got me for my birthday."

Ginny smirked. "Ah, I see. Yes, we wouldn't want to disappoint your ex-husband who's most likely going to be bringing his girlfriend to his mother's function by not wearing that necklace."

"How many times do I have to tell you that they haven't labeled themselves yet?" Hermione chided as she let out a disgusted sound at a dress she had pulled out.

"You really think they haven't?" Ginny questioned. "They've been seeing each other how long now? A month?"

"Six weeks,"

Ginny's grin was huge and wide. "You've been keeping track?"

"I… No, I…" Hermione sputtered terribly and blushed. "No, I haven't. But, back to the topic at hand. Draco would've told me if they had. We're pretty open with things like that."

"Horrifyingly so." The redhead mock-shivered. She began combing through the racks again and then squealed in delight when she pulled out a royal sapphire blue dress and held it out to Hermione. "This is the one."

Hermione's eyes bulged. "You're joking."

"Oh come on, don't turn into an old mum on me. You're thirty-seven, not eighty. Just try it on."

Hermione cringed at the term "old mum" and nearly yanked the dress away from Ginny. She didn't want to think of herself as "old" anything until all three of her children were married with kids of their own.

So, she handed over her bag to Ginny and slipped into the dressing room in the back. Hermione held the dress up in her hands and half-admired it. The front was decent enough, although she could tell that the neckline and the cups would push her breasts up pretty high. A somewhat easy fix if she didn't wear a bra and let the dress do all the work. There was a slit up the left side going halfway up the thigh. It gave her some pause, but considering that the dress wasn't meant to be form-fitting from the hips down, the split would only be seen when she walked.

The back, however… Merlin the back was a show-stopper. It was a show-stopper because there was no back to speak of. It was gone. Poof. A chunk of material missing and reappearing again at what she assumed was the lower part of her back.

It wasn't that Hermione was a prude. Honestly, that wasn't it. It just wasn't her cup of tea. The dress was lovely and it would look great on anyone –Ginny even. It was just the thought of having it on her that gave her a little pause.

Regardless, Hermione stripped and shimmied into the dress. Despite her reservations, she had to admit that she looked pretty good in it. No, change that. She looked pretty damn good in it. Ginny agreed wholeheartedly when she saw her and refused to go looking for any more dresses because this was it.

"This'll knock a certain blond man out." Ginny smiled as she arranged the flare of the dress so that it could show Hermione's leg.

"Gin, this isn't about Draco." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"For you it's not, but it sure is for me. And now that we've got the dress settled, we can finally go back to the matter of your date."

"Oh no," Hermione shook her head. "As I told you last week, and the week before that, I'm not bringing a plus one."

"And as I told you last week, and the week before that, everyone is going to be coupled off except for you. And that includes Ron! No offence to my brother, but it still amazes me."

Hermione laughed. Yes, Ron was going to Narcissa's Winter Ball with someone. Not a date –or so he said, but no one believed him. The woman went to the joke shoppe from time to time with her six-year-old who was absolutely obsessed with the merchandise. She and Ron became friends outside of the shoppe and a day last week he casually asked her if she wanted to go to the ball with him. She'd said yes, and Hermione was absolutely ecstatic for him.

"Please bring Winston."

"What?" Hermione stared at Ginny and immediately began to protest. "You know that I have a rule of not dating anyone that I work with."

"Don't call it date then." Ginny said smartly. "It's a friend taking another friend to a friendly event."

"Right… That's exactly what he'll think."

"Fine, okay, go to the ball alone then while everyone, including your ex, is huddled away in the arms of their respective significant other."

Hermione opened her mouth to retort but found herself speechless. After several failed attempts, she scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. "You're an evil little witch."

Ginny beamed. "I do my best."

They'd been seeing each other for a little over a month now and for the past three weeks things have been ending the same: at Astoria's place.

After realizing that she would be staying in England for a bit longer, Astoria had left her sister and brother-in-law's house and moved into a weekly-rented out loft. Whether it was lunch or dinner, they always ended up there. And it was there that Draco's nerves would kick into overdrive.

His talk with Blaise over his sexual and emotional reservations had been two weeks ago. And since then Draco had yet to have his own talk with Hermione about whether or not she secretly wanted to hex his bits off. He also hadn't yet talked with Astoria about his comfort levels on how high her comfort levels were. It was all exhausting, truly, and here he was dealing with it all over again.

They were sitting on her sofa –watching television of all things. Draco had one in his own home because his children were addicted to the thing. Him too, sort of, considering his muggleborn ex-wife had roped him into buying one in the first place. It had surprised him that Astoria would have one, but then she explained that her ex-husband dabbled in wizard and muggle trading. It exposed him, and thus her and her son, to a plethora of muggle items over the years. She had to admit that a television was by far her favorite.

And so here they were. Astoria's sofa was small. A two-seater and something that he swore blind she had done on purpose. There wasn't much room for him to go anywhere else. Not that he wanted to, but if the desire had been there he would've been impeded by a cushioned chair.

"Oh, this is my favorite part."

Draco looked down at her and grinned some. "Exactly how many times have you watched this?"

Astoria shrugged. "Enough,"

"Translation: too many."

Astoria playfully slapped him on the arm and then it happened. She wrapped an arm around his waist and laid her head on his chest. Draco knew this strategy and he could read it like a book. After that her hand would ride up his chest. It would stay there for a while. She might even rub it a little. She'd move her body a little closer, snuggle him a bit, and patiently wait for his next step, which would be to wrap his arms around her torso. It wasn't so much that he could see her smiling when he did this, but rather he could feel her doing it. And then she'd lean up a little, and give him a peck on the cheek –one a little too close to his mouth. He'd kiss her, properly, but then that's when his emotional upheaval would begin.

Now, Astoria wasn't a bad kisser (not by a long shot), but his brain wouldn't behave and it kept comparing between her and Hermione. It was like his thoughts were a running commentary:

Hermione would never drag her fingers like that –it was more of a...caress.

Hermione would never bite this hard.

Hermione always preferred when he initiated things.

Hermione this. Hermione that. It was maddening.

A tapping on one of the windows roused them from their antics. Draco looked over, hoping that his look of relief was internal, and squinted as he recognized the owl.

"That's Hermione's." Draco said as he disentangled himself from Astoria. He let in the owl, Remy, who dropped off a letter at his feet and flew back out. It was a short note he realized, but one that had grabbed his attention anyway.

Sorry to interrupt, but Scorpius has come down with a cold and he's miserable. You know how it goes.

Hermione xx

"What is it? Is everything okay?" Astoria asked as she walked over to him. Draco folded the letter, put it in his pocket, and sighed.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go. Scorpius is sick."

"Oh no, is it serious?"

"No, it's just a cold but," Draco began to smile. "He only lets me near him when he's sick and he'll pitch a fit if Hermione gets within two feet of his bed. Astoria, I-"

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Astoria told him. "Daddy duties always come first. I'll see you on Saturday for the ball."

Astoria kissed him goodbye and Draco disapparated straight into Hermione's house.

"Hermione, where-?"

"Kitchen!"

Draco headed to the kitchen and found his ex-wife piling items on a tray. One glance and he knew it was the "sick kit." A bowl of soup, a cup of tea, a Cough Suppressant Potion, and a heavily diluted Sleeping Draught.

"You got here sooner than I thought you would –good." Hermione said as she lifted the tray and gave it to Draco. "Scorpius has been coughing so much I'm surprised he can still talk."

"Where's Lyra?"

"With my parents. I didn't want her to catch anything. She's a right joy when she's sick."

Draco laughed. Lyra was anything but a little ray of sunshine when she was ill. He was glad that she'd be gone for the night. Perhaps for the rest of the week if Scorpius hadn't kicked this thing by then.

"Alright, I'll go take care of it. After he's out I'll pop home and grab some clothes too. Something tells me he's not going to let me leave here tonight."

Hermione smirked. "Probably not. Good luck."

"Good luck" had been right. It had taken at least five tries full of begging and pleading for Draco to get Scorpius to take the Cough Suppressant Potion. Once it was finally down, his son refused the soup, opting for the tea, only to not want the tea after two sips and go for the soup again. And, of course, Scorpius didn't want to feed himself because he liked it when his dad did it. So, Draco did. Anything for his son, which included reading him not one, but three bedtime stories before the young boy would drink the Sleeping Draught.

When Draco finally managed to make it downstairs he was ready to fall asleep right on the sofa. Forget about going home for clothes to change into. This was one night he was not picky about his hygiene. However, it seemed that Hermione had anticipated this night well, and she dropped a small rucksack of his at the side of the sofa.

Draco looked over at it, up at her, and then grinned. "Bless you,"

Hermione laughed as she moved to sit down next to him. "You know me, always thinking ahead. By the way, I'm sorry that you had to come over. I told him that you were busy tonight and I really tried with him, but you know Scorpius..."

"It's fine." Draco said. "I wonder if he'll still scream and cry for me to take care of him when he's at Hogwarts."

"If he does, Merlin help you."

"I'd have to set up a Floo to the Slytherin Common Room."

"Or the Gryffindor Common Room,"

Draco flinched. "Don't put that out into the air like that! You did the same thing with Cassie and look, she's bleeding red and gold."

"Yes, yes, she is." Hermione beamed brightly. Draco pouted like a child which only made her laugh more and harder. He stared at her as her cheeks turned red and she wiped away an invisible tear. It warmed his insides to see her like that.

"…Thank you." Draco said once she'd calmed down from her laughing fit. Hermione cocked her head to a side in confusion.

"Thank you for what?"

"For laughing. For not looking like you hate me."

Hermione frowned. "Hate you? Draco, I could never hate you-"

"Tell that to your face," he grimly chuckled. "For the last few weeks every time I saw you, you looked a little…tense…to be around me."

Had she been? Had she been really?

Hermione stared down at her lap and nervously wrung her hands together. "I…admit that I've been a little tense lately." She looked up at him and added, "But it's not you, it's me, I swear."

Draco couldn't help his smirk and twisted his body so that he was fully facing her. "You know, when someone says, 'It's not you, it's me,' it usually is the other way around. Come on, Hermione, be honest with me." He reached over and took her hand, anything to stop her from rubbing them dry. "You don't like the idea of me seeing Astoria."

"That's not it –not really anyway."

"Then what is it?"

"You being with her just makes our divorce real, that's all." Hermione confessed. "You have to admit that we were having a pretty unconventional one."

"True,"

"I'm fine, I promise. It's just something that I have to get used to. If you can do it, so can I."

Draco's guilt hit him hard and he dropped his gaze to the sofa. If you can do it, so can I… But had he done it? Had he really?

"Draco?" Hermione called to him softly. She scooted herself closer to him and reached out to touch his cheek. "You are happy, aren't you?"

He was satisfied, that much was sure. But happy? One thing was for certain and it was the fact that he was happy now. And perhaps this was an error on his part, but his body had reacted faster than his brain could in telling him no.

Draco leaned forward and kissed her. It was a quick touch of her lips, but the amount of desire that rose out of it was astronomical. Hermione had been caught off-guard, and her heartrate accelerated –not just because he had kissed her. Her heart was pounding out of her chest because he was there, his face mere centimeters from hers, his lips hovering over her own and teasing her.

She'd never dealt well with being teased. And Draco knew that.

He closed the gap and kissed her again, snaking his arm around her body and pulling her close. It had been months since he'd had her pressed against his body like this, and Merlin did he miss it. He missed her. That's why he paused the kiss just for a moment so that he could apparate them to her bedroom.

When Hermione landed on her feet, she found her back pressed against her bedroom door –Draco's own body against hers and pinning her there. Their kiss was frantic. No, urgent was a better word for it. Hermione was trying her best to think logically before it was all shot to hell.

"Scorpius could,-" she said against his lips as her fingers rapidly unbuttoned his shirt. "He could hear-"

"Modified Silencing Charm," he replied as he broke their kiss so that he could slide his undone shirt off and slip hers over her head. "He won't hear anything."

Draco's lips were on hers again and he could feel her fingers gently grazing his neck –caressing it, just like he was used to. He nearly moaned in pleasure and in absolute glee when she took his bottom lip between his teeth, swiping her tongue over it before letting it proceed into his mouth and deepen their already passionate kiss. He needed more of her, and so he let his mouth slip to her jaw, the side of her neck, and let his hands explore.

"Draco," Hermione said breathlessly now that she could talk. She bit down on her tongue when he bit down on her neck. His hands were travelling up her thighs, cupping her arse when he finally reached it, and her thoughts were quickly becoming scrambled. "We shouldn't do this. We're divorced."

"I know." Draco replied in a muffled tone. His lips had gone from her neck to between her breasts and she had to close her eyes when his tongue stroked them in turn.

"You're…" She gulped when his fingers hooked into the tops of her pants and underwear and let them fall from her and onto the floor. Her hands automatically went to his own so they, too, could be undone and fall the floor. "You're seeing Astoria."

"I know that too."

Hermione felt her heart skip as she stepped out of her pants and underwear on the floor. "But we're not going to stop, are we?"

Draco stepped out of his just the same. He took a moment to stare at her. Her flushed skin, the rise and fall of her chest –still in that damn bra that needed to go. The lust in her eyes that he hadn't seen since they'd gotten divorced.

He swallowed. "No."

Hermione kissed him this time and her moan hit his ears hard when he slipped himself into her. Her cries of pleasure seemed to hit him louder and harder with every thrust he gave and it drove him mad. Eventually Draco hoisted her all the way up so that they could move themselves away from the door and onto the bed instead. There Hermione urged him to lay on his back and she stripped herself of her bra and tossed it away. It was his turn to have his eyes roll back, and grunt, and groan, with every roll of her hips. He could feel her release time and time again as she did this, and eventually he turned them over so that he could find his own. And he did, with a good, hard thrust, and he winced when her nails dug into his back.

Draco's body shuddered, and he relaxed, but he didn't leave her. He stayed there, inside her, staring down at Hermione's face. Her beautiful face. Those curious eyes. Her tiny nose. Her lush lips. He ran his thumb across them gently, and she kissed it as he did. He loved this woman. He really, really loved her. And she loved him too. He knew she did. He knew it by the way she let her hand slip to his cheek. He knew it by the way she coaxed his lips down to hers. He knew it by the slowness with which she kissed him –as though she wanted to savor it. To savor him.

So they paced it. A leisurely kiss that deepened which each passing second –especially when Draco's slipped his tongue into her mouth. And then he felt himself harden yet again, and Hermione instinctively tightened her legs around his torso. And then she closed her eyes with every movement of his hips, but it was different this time. Slower. Deeper. And with her name on his lips and his name on hers.

Hermione gave a disappointing groan when she felt him remove himself from her. But she had no idea just how much Draco found her cry of disappointment even more alluring than her pleasure-filled one. Not to worry though; he wasn't through. Hermione bit her lip hard, muffling a whimper, after he had eased her onto her side and slipped into her from behind, letting one hand slip under her and around her waist, latching her in place. His other hand slipped between her thighs and a whole new slew of sounds escaped them both. Hermione grit her teeth, gasping for air. Draco had his eyes closed, his mouth on the crook of her neck as his hips and fingers moved with expert skill.

"I've missed you." Draco whispered in a raspy tone in her ear. Hermione was too tongue-tied to say anything. She merely continued to grunt, groan, cry, and moan in response to his thrusts and busy fingers.

It was only after they had finished –utterly exhausted, to say the least –that Hermione said she missed him too. Draco nodded and held her close. They were silent, but content and in disbelief.

After a while they fell asleep, entangled in each other's arms as though they were still happily married instead of happily divorced.

Author's note: I think the following sums up this chapter: !

Also, I have some fantastic news! I got offered to have this story translated into Spanish by Lila Barmen. I'm super excited about it and grateful too :). The link is below for anyone interested (like me, I get to practice my Spanish reading, yey!) or if you know anyone who may feel better reading it in Spanish if that's his/her native language.

Link: s/12250351/1/Felizmente-Divorciados

-WP

Replies to Guests

Alytiger: Lol, about time huh? Wahoo! And look, he really did manage to get his woman after all ;)

mrudulakm: Thanks a lot! I'm really glad that you like it so far. And wow, a Hermione and Astoria scene would be…interesting lol. Draco would probably start eating his wand.

Harrypotterchick: Lol. Oh no, it won't be easy for him. This chapter may have contradicted that, but there are several more to come ;)

Guest: Yey for being emotionally attached! Even with Draco and Astoria together I can never write them with great detail. I can't be that cruel, plus it would hurt even me lol. I'm sure this chapter made up for a few things :)

Riggins33: Suffer…. Yeah, with some an upcoming chapter in mind, yes, that's going to be true for him. But I think that's the things with feelings. New people bring new emotions and so I like to think that's where Draco is coming from with Astoria. But alas, it's not working out in the slightest.

Cascol3: It certainly seems this chapter that he didn't have to do much to get Hermione, but there's still much to be seen. As for the dinners, it wasn't mentioned directly, perhaps I should go back and edit, but I'd like to think that they wouldn't have stopped completely, but certainly diminished in frequency. And yes, Draco is a bit clueless lol. Either that or just desperately hoping that everything can be alright when deep down he knows (or should know) that it won't/can't be.

Lizza: Sorry! I hope this made you smile a little :)

Guest2: "I have a love…" Yes, Draco should have known better. And I think it's a matter of deep down yes, he knows, but just hopes beyond hope that things can be okay when in reality, no, you idiot, it can't be. As for Blaise, I would just like to think friends wouldn't want an opportunity to slip by when it's right there. And if nothing came of it, then sure. At least an attempt was made.

Sun star: Haha Ron… He's always pictured as the clueless one or the one who's always angry. I wanted to paint him in a better light, so yey! Voice of reason it is :). And you're welcome. You see a bit of Draco and Astoria here, but it certainly doesn't compare/beat out Draco and Hermione lol. And Draco's either noticed everyone's discomfort, which leads him to help realize what a stupid move he's been making, or he hasn't at all and is just lost in his own little world.

I felt like if I made Astoria horrible then Draco could've gotten a true negative reaction for what he's doing. Dating someone who's sweet and good-natured? That's fine. It's understandable. But for someone who's terrible? Like…why? Although it seems like Draco's well on his way to being set straight with Hermione, it's not necessarily the case.

Guest3: "I am happy on how…" No one's really talked about Narcissa, so thanks :). I like to think of her as non-interfering, but still very much active in what's going on in her son's and (ex) daughter-in-law's lives. She'll have a prominent scene in a chapter in the near future.

kittu: Thank you! :)

Guest4: "Ohh this story is…" Thank you! If that's how you feel, then let me tell you that you're having an interesting divorce lol ;)

Guest5: "Draco to me..." I understand that. I suppose in my own thinking it's a bit hard, especially when emotions are involved, or even after being with a Gryffindor for so long to keep the very traits that put you in a particular house in the first place. People change, how a person conducts his/her actions can change. And on a side note, simply from an author perspective, for flow of the story's sake, that's just how it went about :)