So, this was it. He was going to finally talk to Hermione. He wondered if maybe she would open up to him more about the twat weasel. Anytime the thought forced its way to the front of his mind, he felt his blood boil. It would take all of his self-restraint not to kill him on sight if he saw him again. He hoped that Hermione was honest with Pansy about cutting the stupid git off for good. Although, he did let one amusing thought run through his head when thinking about what Pansy told him. Granger now had Slytherins on her side. Who would have thought Granger would be getting so close to her former enemies?

After dinner, they had decided to go to her living quarters to talk. Draco felt McGonagall's eyes on the back of both of their heads when they exited the Great Hall. Not to mention the half Giant man, Hagrid and probably Longbottom too. He hoped that something about him and Hermione would make it back to the Weasel. Some of the students who weren't wrapped up in their conversations had openly stared at them too.

"Amor Vincit Omnia." She spoke to her door to let them both in.

"Love conquers all?" He asked her as they made their way to her red sofa. It also dawned on him that she trusted him to know her password.

Hermione blushed when he asked. "Well, it does, doesn't it?" She replied, almost bashfully.

"I dunno. I've never actually been in love." He shrugged. "I love my family, well my mother. She's really all I have left. I love my friends. That's who I've been loyal too. Maybe true loyalty is what conquers all."

"There's more than one kind of love. It's not always romantic. The love you've felt for your family and friends and vice versa has surely helped you conquer a lot, right?" She posed. Then, he understood. It had.

"I agree." He murmured.

"I am sorry about your father, Draco. I didn't say anything, obviously when it happened, but I imagine it wasn't easy." Hermione looked at him sympathetically from her place on the sofa. She was on one end and he the other. He almost allowed himself to move to bridge the distance, but thought better on it, and knew that they needed to get everything out of the way first.

"You called me Draco." He gave her a faint smile that she reciprocated. "Toward the end, I think Father and I came to an understanding. He never wavered on his stance with blood superiority. But he also recognized that it almost destroyed our family."

"Well, that's better than nothing at all." Hermione nodded as she said it. "I'm going to make us some tea." He watched as she exited the room and disappeared into the kitchen for a few minutes. She came back in and set a tray on the coffee table.

"I'm sorry about how I acted towards you before, when we had our row. It was childish of me." He told her. He put sugar in his tea cup, stirred it, and took a sip.

"It's okay. I understand. I shouldn't have pushed you when you weren't ready." She said.

"It still wasn't an excuse to behave that way. I'm happy you gave me the time of day last night." He said, looking at her. She smiled at him.

"Well, I suppose we have Blaise to thank for that." She laughed.

"Speaking of Blaise, I think he's already about to propose to Lovegood. You should have heard him talking about her." Draco rolled his eyes.

"Really? I haven't heard anything from Luna yet." Hermione told him.

"She didn't leave his home until around one in the afternoon. Maybe she's been catching up on sleep all day." Draco snorted.

Hermione's eyes went wide. "Well, I suppose so then."

There was an awkward silence for a few moments before Draco broke it.

"Do you remember in second year when the basilisk was wreaking havoc?" He asked almost rhetorically.

"Considering I was petrified, yes." Hermione answered slowly.

Draco steadied himself. "My father slipped the diary into the Weasley girl's basket, as you know. I remember hearing about my father talking about the danger muggle borns were going to be in. I figured it out. I knew it was a basilisk. I never said anything. While we were all in Flourish and Blott's, I tore a page out of a book.. I was too much of a coward to say anything myself. I slipped that page into your bag, knowing you would figure it out."

"You tried to help? That was you?" Hermione made a confused face. "That makes a lot of sense. But why? You hated me and muggle borns. You know, we actually thought you were the heir, but uh, found out that you weren't obviously. Didn't you say you wanted to help the heir?"

At that, Draco laughed. "Granger, my disdain for you was because you were the first hurtle that I had to overcome that challenged my views on muggleborns. There you were, in a world completely foreign to you and you got the highest marks out of everyone, even pure bloods. I came second to you in all of our classes. I also started to loathe myself because I admired it. I wasn't supposed to like you, yet I found myself with a schoolboy crush. It confused me. You weren't supposed to be better than me and I certainly wasn't supposed to admire you in anyway. As for the comments I made, I was just saying that. I never wanted anyone to die."

At this, Hermione just gaped at him. She shut her mouth and he could see the wheels turning in that brain of hers. "I punched you. You were horrible to me."

"You punched me because I was being a git towards the Hagrid bloke." He reasoned. "Come on, Granger. Even you have to admit when he first started teaching, the classes weren't that safe."

"Well, yes, I suppose so." She mumbled. "And the Quidditch World Cup?"

"I was warning you lot to get away, Granger. My father was part of the group causing the chaos. You know he was an accomplished Legilimence by the end of my third year?" Draco asked. "I couldn't very well say you needed to go like I actually cared about it. Not that I actually cared about Potter and the Weasel. I didn't want to, I guess, see you get hurt. Especially if it was by my own family. Little did I know, right?"

"You were part of the Inquisitorial Squad, you took points away from me for being a mudblood. You helped lock us up in that vile woman's office. Then, after your father got caught in the Department of Mysteries with other Death Eaters, you tried to attack Harry. Which, really didn't turn out too well. Either way, you swore you would get vengeance. Is that why you became a Death Eater before sixth year?" Hermione didn't say it angrily, but she was still hurt. He could see that. He knew this conversation wouldn't be easy. But it had to be done. He found himself taking a deep breath to ease the anxiety he had.

"Slytherins automatically get a bad reputation after being sorted to their house. Pure bloods have their prejudices, but there's also prejudices against Slytherins. We are assumed to be evil or grow up to be evil. While, sometimes that's true, it's not always. Voldemort offered a means to an end. He offered a place for us to belong when so many looked down upon us for who we were. He was merely a means to an end, in that sense. That's how I grew up. In a family that supported him and what he stood for. That's what I believed was right. So, I became the head of the household when Father got locked up in Azkaban. I already knew I would have to take his place. What I did with Umbridge wasn't right. Before I joined the Death Eaters, I hated Potter. It was out of jealousy. People liked him. He was famous. He had a choice to do good and I never did. You were one of his best friends, so it was easy to hate you too, even though I never really did. But when Father got locked up, I knew. It wasn't just Father I lost, I also lost what small choices I did have before then. I was angry that I would have to take the mark in my fathers place. That's what made everything real. I realize now it was my Father's actions that got me into that mess. It was easier to blame Potter." He finished, then took another deep breath.

Hermione had tears in her eyes when he glanced over at her. He couldn't look at her, the shame building up within him as it did when he allowed himself to go back in time. To his surprise, she moved closer to him and put her hand on his knee and squeezed it. He almost flinched at her touch.

"I never truly looked at your side of things before." She whispered. "You didn't really ever have a choice, did you?"

Draco choked. "I took the mark the summer before sixth year. I was arrogant to everyone else at first. But I had to do it. He would have killed my mother and father. I saw Potter with my mother at Madam Malkins that summer. He threatened my mother. She told him that she thought he would join his Godfather soon after I snapped at him for insulting her. We were a mess. She just wanted him gone so that Voldemort would be gone from our lives. She hated that I got the mark and saw him as a threat towards me. Which, that curse he hit me with nearly did me in anyway. The more sixth year passed by, the more I questioned everything. Then, Dumbledore talked to me. He forgave me for everything that I had done and told me I could join the right side. I wasn't a murderer. I considered it. I didn't want to do it anymore. But, I was frightened... That's when Snape killed him. Any hope I did have was gone. So, I went back to the Manor and stayed there. Then, the Death Eaters took over Hogwarts, so I was able to go back."

"You saved us after that. You didn't identify us. You knew who we were. You also didn't let Crabbe and Goyle kill Harry in the Room of Requirement. You still tried to retrieve us, though." Hermione stated.

"I only wanted to get Potter so that Voldemort wouldn't kill my family and I. Potter would have gone to him anyway. I dunno. Potter saved me twice that night from the fiendfyre and again when another Death Eater was going to kill me. That was when I fully decided that I wasn't going to live the life I had been living anymore. When it was all over, my family and I were lost for a while. But, my mother and I turned our backs on the old ways completely. All of the events that happened here changed me irrevocably. Sixth year was the turning point and the war was the catalyst." Draco finished.

Hermione nodded, she looked deep in thought. "And now here we are, back at Hogwarts." She finally said.

"It really does seem like everything has come full circle, like this is my fresh start here all over again." He told her.

"You know, I feel the same way." She agreed. "It seems that way for me too."

Draco tensed when she said that and briefly wondered if she would bring up the Weasel. He figured that if she did, he would have to feign ignorance to avoid issues with Pansy.

"Is that so," was all he could manage to say.

"Yes, after the war, I found that being an auror wasn't something that I really wanted to do. I love being here. I love teaching." She said, smiling at him.

"It seems to suit you. You've always been a know it all." Draco smirked.

She pushed him. "It suits you too. I saw how you were with your students."

When she pushed him, he grabbed her arms and pulled her closer. She looked from her arms that were in his hands and met his eyes. He leaned down and she moved forward, both a little hesitant before his lips reached hers. He kissed her very softly before pulling away, still holding her arms.

"Well, I bet after our formative years, we never would have saw that coming, eh?" He stated sardonically.

She laughed nervously. "Probably not."

"So, I think I owe you a proper dinner. Would you care to go to London tomorrow since it's Sunday?" He asked, happily.

"I think that would be lovely." She told him.

"Do you mind if I use your floo to go back to my dormitory?" He asked her.

"Of course." She walked him over to the fireplace and embraced him. He leaned into her and snaked his arms around her waist. Her floral perfume and sea smelling shampoo mixed wonderfully. Her hair tickled his chin.

"I'll see you tomorrow at six." He let her go to leave. As he was grabbing the floo powder, she grabbed his arm and nearly spun him around. He looked at her quizzically before flinging herself into his arms and kissing him fiercely for a few moments. She then broke the embrace.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She said smugly.

He laughed as he left through the fireplace.

Hermione went to sit back down on the sofa as she puzzled at what just took place in her living room. Draco Malfoy had not only opened up to her, but they kissed. Not once, but twice. She flung herself at him! She'd been ignoring the feelings she'd been having regarding him since they both started teaching, but they were out in the open now. She liked Malfoy. Not only that, but he liked her too. AND. They had a date tomorrow.

Though Harry had been understanding about seeing her get on with not just Draco, but Pansy too, she had to wonder if he would be so reasonable with her dating him. She figured she wouldn't tell him unless it got serious, that way it would be worth it if he got angry with her. She already knew Ron wouldn't approve, not that she cared anyway. She just didn't want to push Harry away. Then, she thought about her parents, Ginny, the Weasleys, Neville, and even Hagrid. How would they react? Or McGonagall? She gulped. They couldn't make it obvious. She imagined Luna would be alright with it and Pansy would probably be thrilled. She knew Draco would at least tell Blaise.

At least she had Luna and Pansy. She smiled warily at that thought. Who would have known that she would have become so close to Luna and Pansy? There was knocking on her window that interrupted her thoughts. Probably not a bad thing either, considering she would probably overthink things to death.

She opened the stain glassed window to let the brown and red Eastern Screech Owl in, some of the autumn chill coming in with it. It flew to perch on her coffee table, holding a letter between its legs.

"Hold on, Artemis. I'll grab you a treat." She told the owl, then saw her cat make an appearance. "Don't even think about it, Crooks." She eyed him. Crookshanks just gave her an unperturbed look and kept walking.

She gave the owl a treat and it hooted in thanks. "I'll need you to stay here so I can give her a reply, okay?" She told Artemis. She hooted in response, but understood. Hermione took the letter from the owl.

Hermione,

I apologize for just checking in with you, as I've been quite busy today when I got home. Daddy had a lot of ideas for The Quibbler and we've been going over them. I would have flooed you, but wasn't sure if you'd be at dinner or busy with Head of House duties. Thank you again for inviting me to the party. I'm sorry for leaving you so long. I really enjoyed the company of Blaise Zabini. Actually, I left his house rather late today. I have found that I really like him. I think he might like me a lot too, can you believe that? I checked him for Wrackspurts just to make sure. I think he's just funny, though. He didn't seem to have any, but I will keep an eye out for it. I still find it sweet that you were so kind to Pansy. It's good to make new friends and forgive old enemies. It seems that things really have moved forward, which makes me incredibly happy. Our efforts never really were in vain in the war, were they? We helped make a difference. I hope to see you again soon.

Love,

Luna

Hermione snorted when she read the comment about checking Blaise for Wrackspurts. But, she also found that she would feel comfortable telling Luna about Draco. Judging by her letter, Luna's outlook would probably be bright regarding it. Which was something Hermione would appreciate.