AN- i am SO sorry! once again, but just...things happened and i got a bit off balance. and then i TRIED to write but it didnt work! my ability like, DIED. it took me three days to write this. so...yeah. the Easter Bunny brought you this chapter, go read!

The Weasley twins' guess was right. Fred told his wife, Angelina, George told his wife, Alicia, and both of the women told each other. Upon discovering the other already knew, they both raced to Katie, who then told her fiancé, Oliver. Oliver and Katie were at practice at the time, so soon the whole Quidditch team knew.

It was rapidly consuming the Wizarding world. The Quibbler posted congratulations the next day. The Prophet, now under better management, waited to check if the rumors were true, and therefore were a week late in their gossip column announcement. This did not bother Hermione one bit. She was busy enjoying her newfound ability to see Lucius more and more.

Although…something had been bothering her…

"Lucius, why is it we never go out for dinner?"

He glanced up at her, wry smile threatening to show. "Well, my dear, there is one simple reason for that."

Hermione leaned forward demurely, chin in hand. "Care to explain?"

The smile was prevalent now, even though he was studying the papers in front of him VERY carefully. "Because there is a great chance that dinner may turn into breakfast."

Hermione sat back, blushing furiously. She definitely got what he had alluded to.

Lucius glanced up at her, eyebrow raised. Grinning now, he looked back down. "There was a recent study in the muggle world, saying that people over fifty are more likely to have sex on the first date."

Finding her voice, Hermione, still blushing, crossed her arms and said "There is so much wrong in that logic. First, you aren't fifty yet! Or are you saying you have some crazed libido that-" Lucius looked up at her fully, his smile making her insides twist. "Oh come on!"

"No, I refuse. And, may I interject? There are a mere few months before the anniversary of my natal day arrives. Also, the muggle life span and the wizard life span differ greatly. Therefore for all you and I may know, that certain age marker could have been ten years ago."

"Speaking of the anniversary or your natal day, as you so staunchly put it, do you have any idea of what you would like to do?"

"…No."

"Yes you have! Surely, you do! You're Lucius Malfoy, you take care of these trivialities." She said, grinning.

"Well, I must, in my own defense, say that a number of things have transpired in recent times giving me just cause to rethink my original plans."

"Fine then. What are your new ideas?"

"Well, I had thought of having the typical large formal affair, but…"

"But?"

"I think the large formal affair should be a day or so after the actual day."

"Alright, I think that is a perfectly wonderful idea. What would you rather do on your actual birthday, then?"

"I was thinking perhaps spending the day with you, or with you and Draco, and then that evening having a more casual event, with the Order, possibly."

Hermione's eyes softened and she put her hand over his on the table. "I think that that is a lovely idea."

He smiled at her. "Good. Then I believe it is settled."

Their food arrived, and their conversation continued. After finishing, they departed the restaurant, this time putting on their outerwear while they were still inside. By this time, mid-November, it was necessary. They loitered for a moment or two before kissing for another moment or two and then parting ways.

Hermione dashed for the bookstore. She was freezing. Upon entering, she skittered to the counter. There was usually quite a throng of people in the store, stocking up on books for cozy nights indoors, but, luckily, most people were still at lunch. (A blessing to Hermione and Lucius' lunchtime dates, she could go and spill to her friends immediately afterwards.)

"So, what happened today?" Lavender said, leaning over the counter.

"Not much…well, we discussed his birthday."

"That's right, it's in about a month and a half, isn't it?" Parvati said.

"Yeah. Right in between Christmas and New Year's, it's so convenient." She said, grinning.

"What else?"

"Not much…"

"You said that before!"

"Well it's true!"

"Liar!" Parvati said grinning.

Hermione blushed. "Well…"

"Come on!" Parvati coaxed.

"Well…you know how we always go out to lunch, never to dinner?" she received nods from both women. "Well, I asked about that…"

"Really? What did he say?" Lavender whispered.

Hermione made a face. "I'm trying to get there! So…basically…ah…"

"He made a sexual reference."

Hermione blushed, looking at Parvati. "How did you know?"

She shrugged, then grinned. "I'm the master."

"What did you do?"

"Blushed a whole lot then tried to dissect his statement."

The women laughed. "How did that go?" Parvati asked.

"He showed up my points, and then we smoothly sailed into the topic of his birthday."

Parvati laughed. "Good!"

"I was mortified."

"No you weren't, you loved it!" Parvati said, grinning as Lavender laughed.

"Shut up!"

"Never!"

Just then, a customer approached the counter. Lavender attended to the woman and Hermione smiled at Parvati. "The hordes of customers will be arriving soon, I should go."

Parvati smiled. "I'm glad to see that you've reached such a crucial point in your relationship, Hermione." She said in a mock motherly voice.

"Shut up!"

"Bye!"

PAGE BREAK

Hermione was bored. Really, really bored. She was sitting at her desk, with, as usual, nothing to do. That was just the way her job was. Either she would have a day full to bursting with work and she would lose her mind, or she would have a day of staring at the ceiling being bored out of her mind. Usually the latter. It didn't really matter which way a day went, because the end result was still losing her mind.

Having Draco in her department didn't make things easier.

"Hermione!" he wheedled.

"What?"

"Come on! Neither of us have anything to do."

"Draco…"

"Come on mum!"

Hermione's head snapped up. "WHAT?!" Draco grinned. "Draco Lazare Malfoy-"

"See look, you're even using my middle name!"

"…Draco…shut up."

"No! Otherwise you would shrivel up and die of boredom!"

Hermione looked up at the ceiling pleadingly, crying "Why can't this be one of those really awkward times where Lucius shows up out of nowhere!"

Nothing happened. Well, Draco laughed, but otherwise nothing happened.

"Damn. He's usually so good at that…"

Cackling, Draco said "You know what else he's good at?"

"DRACO SHUT UP!"

"Fine! I wouldn't know anyway. Wait…where did you find my middle name from?"

"Records." Hermione said passively. "I thought it might be useful."

"Why didn't you just ask father? It would be interesting pillow talk."

Hermione flushed. "Shut up! And its not like…I mean…we haven't…"

"It's fine! I wouldn't want to know anyway! I mean, I just don't care. If you hadn't…well…then, honestly, I don't care."

"It was so weird…" Hermione murmured.

"What?"

"I don't know. This mystifying thing your father said…"

Draco rolled his eyes up to the ceiling. "You can't be serious."

"What?"

"He has you all in a twist because he made some comment about how he wanted to bring you home and shag you until dawn, or your eyes fall out, whichever comes first."

"Draco! Don't say that!" Hermione squealed. "I don't know how you can talk about your father like that!"

"We aren't especially close in that regard." Draco said.

"Right…sorry…"

"Don't be. It is the way it is, and we're both enjoying it."

"Alright then…" Hermione said, then sighed. "I really have no idea what I'm doing."

"Well, consider what you're up against. An influential wizard with heaps of experience, coming from a background of grandeur, rules, and specific etiquette. Then, you are a ministry worker, with considerably less experience than he has," Draco calmly skated over her affronted look, "due to age and the fact that he was, at one point, married. You come from a much more relaxed society which knows practically nothing of the aforementioned rules and etiquette. Not that I blame you, its damned hard to learn. Lucky for you, those rules have been modified a bit, so no one really knows what's happening anyway. Unless, of course, you have a specific route you want to take for a specific reason to achieve a specific conclusion."

"Like your father. He really is the driving force in this relationship…I mean, I suppose I helped in the beginning, but otherwise, really, he is masterminding the rest."

"He would. He would want to, anyway, and as you say, you have no idea what is happening, so consider it a blessing. My advice is to just take each piece as it comes your way. And don't over analyze or you will just wind up giving yourself a headache."

"Thanks, I will definitely keep that in mind. I can already tell it's going to be tricky."

"Yes, but, just sit back and enjoy the time you get with him. He'll tell you things you need to know. Well, there's an off chance that he won't because he thinks it will be funny…rather twisted sense of humor, father…"

Hermione laughed a little. "But who will tell me things I need to know about him? He can't sit there and say 'don't say this to me, I will take offense'."

"Hermione, I keep telling you that I'm here to be talked to! Fine, I admit the meaning of that statement was to relieve the both of us from dire circumstances-"

"Death by boredom?" Hermione asked amusedly.

"Yes! Anyway, if you are seeing my father then why not come to me for help, because, as you say, you can't ask him certain things, and really, I sit across the room from you every day, I'm much closer than any other knowledgeable person. Also, I am related to him. Therefore, I win, and freely offer my assistance."

Hermione looked at him. "Thanks, Draco, that's really nice of you."

"Don't get all sentimental on me!"

"Sorry!"

Suddenly, work seemed a little less boring. Grinning, Hermione flicked a crumpled piece of parchment at his back.

AN- okay, i am retracting my offer to update this story every Wednesday. everytime i say that it takes three freaking weeks, so now i will update sometime. WOOT!

also, i have some bad news. this story is ending in one or two chapters. it REALLY pains me to say that, really. what started as a oneshot became this story that im really fond of, no matter how long it takes me to update. right now, i think the next chapter will be the last one, but who knows! and, if that is just TOO DEPRESSING for you all (lolz, im SO modest) i DO have another LMHG that should be going on for some time yet, AND there will be regular updates because now i wont have THREE chaptered stories, i'll have TWO! YAAAAAAAAAAAY! lolz. okay, till next time!