"Be calm Hermione, don't let it bother you," she breathed, staring at her reflection in the hallway mirror. She and Draco were having a Question and Answer today about MWAS. It was December 30th, so they only had a few days until the company fully launched the branch. They hoped that this meeting of sorts would answer all questions and put some minds at ease. Preferably their own. But here she was still boiling with pent up anger at her stupid, no good, ex fiancé. She couldn't let him bother her anymore, but it was a work in progress.

A voice full of humor was heard from behind her, "Talking to yourself, Granger?"

She turned quickly to see Draco leaning against a doorway down the hall and to the right. She sniffed indignantly, "It helps me think."

"First sign of going insane, that is," he winked at her.

A roll of her brown eyes and a pointed look made him laugh as she spoke, "Well maybe I should take caution then, since you are the expert on crazy."

He chuckled but didn't answer her statement, instead he looked down the hall where he could hear the crowd in the large room waiting for them. "You ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, you?"

He looked uneasy, but smiled at her nonetheless. "Same. Thank you, I don't tell you that enough. But really...thank you."

"For what?"

His smile grew as he gestured to the surrounding area, "Everything."

She didn't get a chance to respond before someone from the company called to them that it was time for them to walk onto the makeshift stage. Giving each other reassuring smiles they walked out together, Hermione following closely to Draco.

He quickly jumped into his rehearsed spiel. It was a little rushed, his nerves showing, but in an almost endearing way. Hermione thought that it may be beneficial for people to see that he too is human and he gets nervous about the things he is passionate about. At the end of the speech he announced that they would be taking questions. Hermione hoped that he would be getting most of them, seeing as she was mostly just there for the legalities of it.

The questions started out innocent enough.

"What possessed you to create such a branch? Especially when the Malfoy name is almost synonymous to blood purist."

He took in a steadying breath before answering, keeping his composure. "That's exactly what started my idea, but not completely why I'm doing it. I don't want the name Malfoy to have such a negative light. I was looking for a way to show the wizarding world that I wasn't like the Malfoys in the past. But then I thought to myself, 'that's just the problem. I'm only looking at the wizarding world.' Miss Granger had helped me in the past and I got to thinking about how hard it must be for muggleborns to adjust to the magical lifestyle. I did my research and realized that there is very little being done to help them at all. Of course you wouldn't know it when you see just how quickly powerful some muggleborns can be," he nodded his head at Hermione who returned his smile. Not only will the Muggle Wizard Adaptive Services branch help muggleborns, but it will help the entire magical community. I genuinely want to help make this world we live in better than it has ever been. And I this MWAS is a step in the right direction."

A hearty round of applause moved through the crowd and both people on the stage were beaming. But of course someone had to ruin that happy moment for them.

A reporter was practically bouncing trying to get their attention, when his eyes met Draco's he screamed, "Mr. Malfoy! Can you tell us about the recent article involving and you Miss Granger? "

Draco's face colored as he sputtered out an "uh..." He froze and Hermione knew she had to rescue her friend. This was her mess.

She stood up from her seat and practically body checked him out of the way. He made an undignified sound as his body was pushed out of the way and Hermione spoke into the small light that worked to amplify their voices. "I can certainly tell you all about that article, seeing as Draco was just dragged into this by my crazy and jealous ex."

The reporter perked instantly, nothing was more informative than a lover scorned."Oh? Do go on."

"I'll go on to tell you that later today I will be paying a visit to the Daily Prophet to discuss their blatant lies that they wrote about me." Her head flicked toward the the two reporters from the paper. "Skeeter will be going down, mark my words."

"But surely she only printed what Ron told her," someone from the group of reporters called out.

She zeroed in on them, laughing darkly, "Clearly you have never worked with Skeeter. She writes more lies than truth in nearly every article she has ever written. Sure, Ron must have told her some of those things, but you all know he wouldn't drag Harry into this. That was all the Prophet's doing. Even what she got from Ron is lies though. He told her I cheated on him, with Draco of all people."

Draco's slightly hurt look didn't go unnoticed.

"You two do look rather chummy."

"That's because we're friends," she glared daggers, "But if we ever so chose to be together, we wouldn't of cared about what any of you had to say about it. But I would have left Ron, not cheated on him. He's the one with the fidelity problem, I'm sure more than one woman would happily come forward to rat him out if they were promised their fifteen minutes of fame by doing so. Surely he lied to them as well."

There were moments of silence, save for the scribbling of quills on scrolls and the click of cameras flashing. Then a lady in the back of the crowd spoke up, "It's true."

Hermione didn't know her, but cast the ball of light toward her, amplifying her words. "I'm not looking for my fifteen minutes," she smiled sympathetically up at Hermione. "But I will rat him out. I think I was number four of the cheating he did on her. He told me that they didn't love each other, they were only getting married because it was expected. 'Practically a bloody arrangement' is what he said. He said you knew..."

"How long?" Hermione didn't care that everyone could hear her.

"Three months before he found someone new. Then when I found out about this," her hands held up a paper, "I knew he was lying the whole time. A cheater always blames the other for cheating, even if they didn't."

She swallowed hard, nodding in the young woman's direction, "Thank you."

"I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, me too." She looked away from the crowd for a moment. She steeled her expression. "Now, if any of you have any serious questions about business, and not our personal lives, feel free to ask Mr. Malfoy." She sat back down in her seat behind Draco as he moved back to the podium.

The happy buzz of the conversation had died with Hermione's words. She felt awful for it, she should have prepared him for questions like that. Hell! She should have prepared herself for questions like that. There would have been easier ways to defuse the situation other than getting worked up. But slamming Skeeter publicly had felt too damn good. She didn't hear the rest of the hour he spent there answering questions, leaving halfway through it to sit in the hall.

After the session had ended Draco came into the hallway they had been standing in that morning. He found her balled up on an ottoman blankly staring at the floor.

"Hermione?"

She startled slightly at his voice, "I'm sorry about ruining the Q&A," she replied dully.

"Hermione, it's okay," he squatted down so he was eye level with her. His features as soft as his voice.

She flung her head up to meet his eyes. "No! It's not okay!" She replied, her voice tight with emotion. "He shouldn't have brought you into it. It's not fair to you. You shouldn't be paying for my mistakes."

"It was not your mistake..."

"Dating him was a mistake, Draco. I've wasted so much time and effort and him and for what? For him to attempt to ruin every good thing in my life?"

"I'm a good thing in your life?" He wasn't sure if he had taken the implication properly. Surely she just meant the company.

She sighed, "Obviously..."

He rubbed the back of his neck, "Well...yeah, you're uh...you're a good thing too. In mine." His voice wavered, lacking confidence.

"I've only brought on more hardship for you, hardship you don't deserve."

"Hermione..." his voice was rough, almost like he was angry at her for speaking this way.

"If anyone deserves the hardship it's me, not you. Maybe you choosing me to work with you was a bad idea."

He held out a hand for her and when she slowly took it he yanked her up from the ottoman until she was on her feet, standing inches in front of him. "No Hermione, you don't deserve what that so called man did to you. You don't deserve the mental torture he put you through when he lied to your face and said you weren't good enough. You don't deserve to be someone's sometimes. Not their one of many. Not their option. You're far too special for that. You deserve to be someones alway's, someone's only, someone's she's it for me, no one else."

Hermione just stared at him, she didn't know what she would have said even if she could find her voice.

"You deserve someone who looks at you like something so unique and wonderful. Because you're like...like warm sunshine mixed with blazing inferno. He should have appreciated that instead of dosing water on your flames."

"What are you saying?" She choked out.

He took in a shaky breath, "I'm saying that when I look at you I see fire. You're this beautiful, destructive force that has cleansed this fucked up soul of mine. You've helped me turn into someone I am finally proud to be. And I just don't understand how anyone else couldn't have seen that you do this for people, for everyone and everything that you touch." He gulped in more air, "I'm saying that since you've been in my life you've changed everything for the better. And I don't want you to go anywhere." There he said it, said it in a ridiculously mushy and uncharacteristically unMalfoy way, but he said it. When did he get so poetic? "So don't even think about attempting to 'do me a favor' and stop working with me just because you're one of those weird Gryffindors with a self-sacrificing trait. Don't go anywhere. Please."

She looked terrified and he looked away. "Draco..." she came closer to him, placing a hand on his wrist. She was breathing heavy, eyes unsure.

"Hermione," he countered.

She smiled up at him, close enough where he could feel the heat radiating off of her body. Her hand moved up his arm to his shoulders and then to the back of his neck. There was a battle of indecision raging in her eyes. Her heart was pounding so fast she feared having an attack. But then she made her choice and pulled his head down, covering his lips with hers. It wasn't perfect, honestly a bit awkward. Her nose bumped into his and her top lip just barely covered his bottom one. But she managed to get a fairly decent kiss out of it. His mouth was warmer than any other skin of his she had ever touched, and even softer than his silky hair. She pulled back slightly, awkwardly giggling at their clumsy kiss. But his eyes had grown dark and his pupils large, pulling her to him by the small of her back he kissed her this time. Soft sweet kisses that hinted to something a little more wild. His hands traveled up her body until they rested on either side of her face, pulling it impossibly closer to his own. Hers had migrated downward to ball into tiny fists, grasping at the sides of his shirt. He kissed her, oh how he kissed her. Then she felt the soft flutter of his eyelashes against her face as he pulled away slightly, but she could still feel his soft pants of breath on her own lips. She smiled as her own eyes opened, finding his to be staring at her with a look of wonder on his face. She had just kissed Draco Malfoy...and it had been brilliant.

-Author's Note-
Oh, but just a small, sweet taste of Dramione.

Don't worry, Skeeter will get hers! People are going to find out soon why you shouldn't mess with Hermione. (Cue the evil laugher.)

Hope you enjoyed! I'd loveeee to hear your thoughts...but no pressure. :D