AN- Not going to apologise for cringe factor... Just consider the last one ongoing. Please review so that i know people are still reading this.

Hermione collapsed into an armchair, exhausted after a whole day shopping.

"I didn't know that shopping could be so tiring" said Malfoy from the lounge where he had fallen.

"Well, it isn't usually, but we went into every store" she said.

"Its good to get a complete understanding of what's available in the muggle world" he said.

"Baby stores even?" Hermione asked, recalling Malfoy's adventure through cribs and strollers.

"Everything" he said with an exhausted smile.

"Well I think after today you've seen just about all there is to see of the muggle retail industry" Hermione said.

"I still want to buy a car someday" he said.

"What use do you have for a car?"

"They look like they're fun to operate"

"You will need to get your driver's license first"

"Shouldn't be too difficult"

"I wouldn't be so sure"

The two continued their banter while they recovered from their long day and before they knew it, it was night time.

"What are we going to do with all these things?" she asked.

"Well, usually my mother would call the house elf" he said. Hermione winced at this, as she hadn't been keeping up to date with her SPEW requirements. She had remembered when some of the house elves has joined in the battle, with some sacrificing themselves for the cause. This was perhaps the first time that Hermione acknowledged that the Elves actually enjoyed serving witches and wizards. She would never force a house elf to do anything for her, however, she no longer felt as passionately about freeing them from their duties as she once had.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to teach you how to do things for yourself then, wont I?" she said. "Come on" she said, as she stood up from the armchair, taking his hand in hers, "let's go find a place for all this" she said, looking through the bags to sort them out.

Malfoy stood, reluctantly, observing her as she categorically started placing bags in various piles.

"Now, you take these up to your bedroom" she said, handing him an armful of bags, "and when you get back, these are for my room" she said, pointing to another pile of bags.

As he went upstairs, she began sorting through the various bags of food items and started putting them in places she thought they ought to go. They had even bought new dinner sets and cutlery, so she began looking through cupboards to find the best place to put them.

"Just throw the old ones away" came Malfoy's voice from the doorway. "We don't need them anymore" he said.

"We could just give them to charity" she suggested.

"People use other peoples second hand plates?" he asked.

"Some people have no choice" she answered. "Some people weren't born into privilege or money. Not many people in their whole life time would dream of walking into any shop in the whole complex and buying whatever they like. Your money is nothing to you, but to someone who has none, something like this…" she held up one of the old plates, "… could mean the world" she finished.

"I guess I have been a bit sheltered growing up" he said.

"I'd say so" she said.

"Well, how about we give the lot to charity then? Everything that we don't need" he suggested.

"That's a great idea, but first, we need to sort through this stuff before we drown in it" she said. "Do you have much muggle money left or is it all in Galleons still?" she asked.

He pulled out his wallet, which had been magically expanded to hold a substantial amount of cash.

"I have… five thousand pounds in muggle money" he said.

"So… roughly a thousand galleons" she said. "That will do for a while, but it will be best to change some more soon" she said.

"Can't we just shop in diagon alley?" he asked.

"I don't know if its safe there" she said.

"We could go and see? I will protect you" he said.

"I mean, I am not sure it's safe for you" she said. "I'm one of the golden trio, the fabulous Gryffindor princess" she said, dramatically flipping her hair over her shoulder. "You're the bad boy Slytherin prince who turned on his family and watched as his friend got killed then shacked up with the princess… Not sure how people are going to perceive you" she said.

He walked closer to her and grabbed her playfully around the waist.

"They don't know we've shacked up" he said, kissing her on the mouth. Hermione returned his kiss with a passionate one of her own. It was so bizarre how their snogging sessions would begin, one minute they're talking about something completely random, the next they're all over each other.

The heat was rising between them as they embraced in the kitchen. Malfoy's hands casually wandered down Hermione's lower back and beyond, but she didn't mind at all. She pressed her body against his, urgently seeking his closeness as their mouths and tongues danced their now well practiced routine. Out of nowhere, he picked her up and sat her on the bench carefully positioning himself between her legs. The contact between them never broke as they repositioned themselves in this way. Hermione could feel her heart beating incredibly fast n her chest as she ran her hands over his surprisingly muscular biceps, up his neck and into his hair. She has no idea what she was doing, allowing her body to take over purely by instinct. It was something she didn't understand and could never learn from a book, but she didn't care at all. It was the best feeling, just allowing herself to be free and explore this new relationship.

They continued this for what felt like an eternity before they stopped. It was Malfoy who broke them apart.

"Merlin Granger, what are you doing to me?" he asked.

"What am I doing? You've got me in a precarious position, I don't have much opportunity to do anything" she said playfully, still sitting on the bench with him straddled between her thighs. At this, he stepped backwards, his hands in the air in a 'surrender' posture. She hopped down off the bench, kissed him once on the cheek and resumed packing away the shopping.

Owing to their very late lunch, the pair had a simple dinner and spent the night in front of the TV, watching one of the many movies they had purchased that day. As if by routine, when the movie finished, they both retreated to their own beds, which had been redressed in the brand-new covers they had bought, and lay there staring at the ceiling unable to sleep. Hermione knew that she couldn't sleep alone, but thought better than to assume she could climb into Malfoy's bed every night.

She thought about the days that had passed since escaping the cellar, and although it felt like a lifetime ago, it had only been four days since she fled Malfoy Manor. It had been the most incredibly traumatising event of her lifetime and she lay there wondering if she will, at some point, realise how incredibly lucky she is to still be alive and fall into a heaped mess. Isn't that what people do who have been through something like that?' she wondered. She recalled reading muggle books about people who had been held captive in the muggle war, coming home and experiencing incredible PTSD. Was her inability to sleep alone a sign of PTSD? As she thought about this some more, she heard her door creek open.

"Are you awake?" Malfoy's voice whispered.

"Yeah"

"Can I lay with you?"

She didn't answer, instead, opened the covers for him to join her.

"I can't sleep" he said.

"Me neither" she replied as she cosied up to his warm body.

As they both lay there in silence, Hermione thought about how much better she felt just having him beside her.

"Surely this isn't healthy" she said softly.

"What isn't?"

"Us… sleeping together like this"

"Do you want me to leave?"

"No! No way" she said a little too loudly. "I was just thinking about how little time has passed and how much has changed" she said.

"It feels like we've been this way forever, but at the same time, it feels like you know who was causing havoc just yesterday" he said.

"Its so surreal, like none of it ever happened. We're just here, in our own little world, away from everything and everyone"

"Did you want to be around other people?" he asked.

"I don't think I do. I'm happy remaining oblivious to everyone else pain" she said. "It sounds selfish, Merlin, its selfish"

"Sometimes you need to be selfish. How many times have you done something because you wanted to?"

"Never"

"Exactly. You need this time to do the things that you need to do for yourself" he said.

"You're probably right" she said.

It didn't take long before their breathing began to change and they both drifted off into a deep sleep.

The rest of the week went by in much the same way. The couple found ways to occupy their days. They visited mostly muggle places in hopes they could avoid facing the wizarding reality for little while longer. Hermione read to herself in the sun of the back garden while Malfoy listened to the wireless and tinkered with muggle contraptions. If Hermione didn't now any better, she would swear he was becoming like Mr Weasley.

It had now been 8 days since the battle. The couple had eventually stopped pretending like they weren't going to share a bed and went to bed together each night. They had not taken their relationship further, physically, nor had Hermione expressed any change in her feelings towards him – not that she didn't feel it, she just hadn't thought it was never the right moment to come out and say guess what I'm in love with you too. They were happily living together in their little bubble, far away from the interference of anyone.

"What would you like to do for tea?" she asked him, just as the sun was beginning to set.

"Hmm, not too sure. We have left overs, don't we?"

"I think so, but I guess I was thinking we could go somewhere?" she said tentatively.

"Well, we did buy those fancy clothes, we could go someplace nice" he said, strutting over to where she stood.

"Are you strutting?" she asked him in mock disapproval.

"Me? Of course not, I do not strut" he said.

"Oh, yes you do. You strut so much you don't even realise" she said.

"Hmm, maybe I do. But you've certainly seemed to notice, so maybe it works" he said.

"Works how? What exactly would the aim be?"

"To get your attention" he said.

"Well, you absolutely do not have any of my attention" she said, eyeing him as though realising exactly the opposite of what she was saying. In fact, the way he was carrying himself at this moment, all his angst was gone, he was exuding self confidence that wasn't arrogant, she found him to be sexy as hell.

"I don't believe you" he said quietly, his tone almost daring her to reveal herself.

Without hesitating, Hermione closed the gap that was between the pair and began kissing him. She kissed him as she hadn't kissed him before, releasing the pent-up desire that she hadn't been aware she was holding in. This last week, sleeping beside him night after night, she had been so careful not to let herself get carried away, but now, here he was, in front of her, sexy as hell and she wanted him. She wanted him in a way that she hadn't allowed herself to want anyone before. In a way it was frightening, but at the same time, liberating.

"OK" she said, tearing herself away. "I'm going to take a shower and get ready, you think of what you want to eat" she said, still breathless.

"You're maddening, woman" he said, adjusting his pants somewhat discreetly as she walked up the stairs.

She showered quickly, planning what she might do to let him know she wanted him in that way, almost coming up with a step by step plan by time she was dressed and ready to go. She stood in the kitchen in the full length dark green dress that Malfoy had chosen from her cupboard while she was in the shower. 'Typical' she thought, looking down at the colour. She wondered if he had chosen it because it was Slytherin green. She shrugged it off, knowing that it didn't really matter because the colour suited her and they would be in a muggle community anyway, so no one would think she had betrayed Gryffindor.

When Malfoy arrived in the living room, she was gobsmacked by his appearance. He was wearing a perfectly tailored suit with a tie that matched her dress. The suit wasn't fully black like the one he used to wear, but black with a white shirt, black vest and a nice jacket.

"Are you going to stare at me all night Granger or are we going to leave?" he asked.

"What? No, I wasn't staring at all" she said.

"Well, you must forgive me if I stare because you look stunning" he said.

"Thank you" she answered, turning a shade of red. She wasn't used to compliments on her appearance, however, she had recently realised that as she was growing up, she had lost most of her awkward youthful odd-ness and it had been replaced by a womanly shaped body, clear skin, hair that fell in all the right places and teeth that now fit perfectly with her face.

They held hands and kissed briefly as they apparated to the alley of a nearby town. They had come across this place in the last few days while exploring the muggle area and had noticed it had a lot of nice restaurants. As they walked the short distance up the street, Malfoy whispered to her;

"I feel like I'm going to struggle to keep my hands off you tonight".

"I feel like that might be a good thing" she said back.

They entered the restaurant and were seated in a private booth.

"Did you arrange this?" she asked, looking around at the rest of the patrons who were sitting at regular tables.

"Aren't you the one who once said money talks?" he asked.

"You don't need to keep throwing your money around to impress me. I'm impressed already" she said.

"Impressed hey?" he asked.

"Of course I am" she said. "How could I not be? We've had the most amazing week, but you're spoiling me too much"

"I want to Granger. Just let me spoil you the way I want to, the way I know how. The only way I can" he begged.

"I'd love to, but I can't ever do the same for you" she said, finally getting out the thing that had been bugging her for days.

"You don't understand how little value I place on money. It's a tool for me and I have virtually an endless supply of it" he said.

"I wouldn't go that far" she said.

"I would. You don't realise how wealthy my family is. With just my trust fund money alone, we could both live very very comfortably for the rest of our lives and have enough for our children and their children and their children to live comfortably too" he said. "But of course, now that my father is gone, I inherit the lot" he said.

"What about your mum" Hermione asked.

"She has her own family money. Besides, it is written that 'the male heir inherits the family fortune in the event of his father's death and as the man of the family, decides if he shall support his mother financially'. It's a load of garbage, but it's been my family's tradition since forever" He said.

"I can't believe families just toss the widows to the curb" she said.

"They're of no use anymore. That's the way they see it. Once there is a son who is of age, he is the one who controls the lot… He's the man of the house, the leader of the family. Luck me hey" he said.

"So, if we get married and have children and something happens to you, I'd be what, homeless? Penniless after raising your children?" she asked. "In the muggle world, the woman is entitled to more than half of the assets in a spit and gets the lot if he husband dies" Hermione said.

"I'd just change the rules. Its easily done" he said in an offhand manner.

"Its all just some old-fashioned rule?" she said.

"It was to stop women marrying for money then killing their husbands. Keeping the money in the Malfoy family name" he said.

"It makes sense for those times, but in this modern day… who would marry for money?" she asked.

"Pansy Parkinson?" he asked.

"No way, she was genuinely head over heels completely crazy for you" Hermione said.

"Well, you got the crazy part right at least" he said. "Enough about that, what will we order?" he asked.

Hermione read over her menu carefully, choosing a salmon with a nice sounding salad, while Malfoy chose a steak.

They continued their discussion over drinks, while waiting for their meal to arrive.

"So, you've thought about how you want to spend the rest of your life then?" she asked, picking up on his earlier mention of them living comfortable for the rest of their lives.

"Of course I have. Haven't you?" he asked.

"Well, not really. I didn't expect to live beyond the war" she said.

"That's ridiculous" he said.

"Its not. I'm a muggle born…" she said quietly, "I was one of the most highly wanted people in all of the wizarding world. I was lucky to even have survived second year". She said.

"I hate that you had to go through all of that" he said, quietly.

"Well, its all over now, isn't it? Nothing to worry about" she said, shrugging her shoulders.

"So, what of your future then?" he asked.

"Well, for the immediate future, I need to find my parents, maybe take up those summer classes that were offered so I can get my NEWTS. I desperately need to get a job" she said.

"So, when do you think you'll get started with all of that?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. I feel like the longer I leave it, the harder it will become. It's already been almost a year. Who knows if I'll even be ale to get their memories back. And who knows if they'll want to come home when they realise what I've done to them" she said, tears pricking the corners of her eyes.

"Of course you can get their memories back, you're the brightest witch of our age, remember? And they're your parents, they might be angry, but from what you've said, it sounds like they love you. They'll understand" he said.

In that moment, Hermione was so captivated by how much he cared about her. He had told her that he loved her, but now, on this night, not only with his words but by his actions and his manner, he was really showing her how much he cared. Hermione felt it was time to tell him how she felt, to let him know that she actually felt the same. She wanted to tell him that she wanted to be with him all the time, she wanted him to come with her to Australia, she wanted to be with him, in all the ways she possibly could. She wanted to tell him that she was in love with him, but as she opened her mouth to do so, their meals arrived. She knew now that she was in love with Draco Malfoy and all romantic thoughts of Ron Weasley were left in the past.

Surrounded by the invisible cloud of a warming charm, the pair took a walk along the river before heading home. Hand in hand they walked, slowly, as they were still trying to digest their delicious meals.

"That meal was incredible, but I am so full" she said.

"I don't think I've ever had a steak that amazing" he said.

She still hadn't had the opportunity to tell him how she felt, and she figured now, surrounded by the water and hand in hand with the man of her dreams, was the best moment. She led the pair to a small pier that overlooked the water and stood by the railing. The location was amazing and she made a mental note to remember this place.

"I have to tell you something" she said, as they sat.

"Should I be worried?" he asked, frowning in the light of the moon.

"No, absolutely not" she said with a smile as she kissed his lips softly.

Malfoy took this as an opportunity to kiss her back with more intensity than what she had kissed him with. Before she knew it, his hands were on her body and his lips on her neck. She closed her eyes and relished the sensation before a boat's horn brought her back to reality.

"I'm not going to be able to say what I needed to tell you if you keep doing that" she said.

"Ok, I'm sorry, I'll stop" he said as he leant away from her.

"Well you can proceed later, perhaps when we're in a more private setting" she said, looking around at the people walking by, just up the path, some of whom were looking at the pair in distaste.

"Let them stare. They're probably jealous because you're so damn sexy and I'm the luckiest guy in the world right now" he said.

"Oh, you're so smooth" she said, nudging him with her shoulder.

"Alright, I'll stop. So out with it, what do you need to tell me" he said.

"I want you to come to Australia with me" she said.

"Ok…" he said, a confused look on his face.

"That's not what I wanted to say" she said.

"You're concerning me Granger" he said.

"I'm sorry. This is harder than I thought it would be" she said, feeling nervous.

Malfoy took her hands in his and kissed them gently.

"Whatever it is, it will be ok, I promise" he said.

"I am in love with you" she blurted out. "Merlin, I'm sorry, that came out far better in my head" she added.

"I love you too" he said, smiling as though he had just won the lottery.

"It's so surreal to me, I've never felt like this before. I can't think about a life where I am not around you. Where we don't lay side by side each night, where I can't kiss you and hold you. I have thought about my future and no matter what, it always includes you" she said.

"I feel the same, I am crazy about you" he said, brushing his fingers gently down her cheek, his thumb carefully tracing her lower lip. He lent forward and kissed her, holding her waist and pulling her closer to his body. He kissed her, gently, lovingly, the way someone kissed someone they loved deeply, and she kissed him the same in return. The passion was there, but it was different. The kiss wasn't desperate or primal, it was intentional and heartfelt. In that moment, she knew she had made the right choice. In that moment, she wanted to be with him more than she had wanted anything before.

"Draco, I want to make love with you tonight" she said, trembling with fear at uttering those words.

"If you're sure" he said, looking deep into her eyes.

"I'm sure" she said, kissing him again. "I'm petrified, but I'm sure" she said.

"Come on, I'll take you home" he said taking her by the hand and leading her to a secluded spot to disapparate.