A/N- This is such a filler and it kills me BUT there will be revelations in the next chapter. I'm finally getting to my favorite parts of this story!

Thanks for the reviews (and favs. and follows) :)

Chapter Fourteen

"Good morning Andrew," Hermione said kindly to the blonde behind the counter. He startled and glanced up, smiling when he realized who it was.

"Hey Julia. How was New York?"

Hermione shifted next to him, thinking about the previous week. Her and Malfoy… Draco (it was weird to think of his first name after so long of spiteful surname calling) had grown closer. They had an understanding of sorts, which was better than nothing at all. They had both matured since school, plus they had Orion to think about. If he saw his two major role models arguing (Yes, Draco was his a major role model of her son's. Hermione had admitted that much to herself). The two had bickered, but they had also joked. New York was not as terrible as she had thought it would be.

Realizing that Andrew was still waiting for her answer, Hermione hastily replied, "Good, good. Sorry I had to take time off work so early I just… got an invitation to… to my cousin's wedding. It was rather last minute, but she and I were close as children and I wouldn't miss it for the world,"

Andrew fiddled with a small keychain on the counter.

"That sounds fun…" He said, turning to her suddenly, "You want to get coffee after work?"

Hermione blinked several times, confused at the change of topic. Was Andrew… was he asking her out? Why? She was altogether too thin and had about as much sex appeal as a beached whale. It was obvious that he had been waiting to say that since she'd said 'hello', however, and he seemed genuine.

"Er…." She twiddled her thumbs, before looking back at her sincere-looking co-worker. He was staring hopefully at her, his eyes wide. Hermione took a deep breath. It was just coffee… nothing major. She could do coffee without mention of her horrendous past, child she had when she was still in her teens or magic, Hermione was certain.

"Of course Andrew," She replied finally, moving away from him as a customer approached the counter, a load of books piled up in his hands, "Coffee sounds great,"

X

Draco played with the packet of sugar on the table, waiting for his food. He took an idle sip of his water (muggle sodas were… disgusting) and continued to rip small tears in the pink paper package. His first day back at work had been relatively uninteresting. Mr. Linney had been kind and understanding about the vacation. Draco rarely took days off, and it was a slow month. Sasha had flaunted herself and pouted when Draco had snapped at her that he was busy doing paperwork. She was beginning to get on his nerves, even though he had believed her to be an easy conquest in the beginning. It wasn't much of a challenge at all if she just threw herself at him.

The blonde had never cared about that before though, so why now? What changed him?

Finding it unbearable to think of, Draco took another sip of his drink, setting the mutilated sugar packet down. Just then the waitress arrived with his salad and fillet he had ordered. He thanked her, eating quickly without thinking of Sasha again. His mind wandered to Granger, of her struggle with the Death Eaters. He still didn't know what exactly she'd been through, but it was definitely scarring. This made his throat feel uncomfortably tight, so Draco pushed that thought away as well.

Suddenly, a brunette from another table stood up and, without warning, strode right over to his table.

"May I sit here?" She tapped the seat across from Draco. He nodded, and she plopped down.

"I'm sorry to intrude on your lunch, but my friend over there," She gestured with her thumb to a giggling blonde a few tables over, "Told me that if I didn't come and talk to you she would pour ketchup in my soda,"

Draco raised his eyebrows, "So?" He drawled.

"I'm Lindsey, by the way, I work in the doctor's office on Reilder Street,"

"That's near where I work, actually," Draco commented idly.

"I know," Lindsey flushed pink, "See I've seen you about, and I might've mentioned to Brittany, my friend, that I thought you were attractive. So she said that I had to come and give it a shot. You're Evan McDermitt, right?"

Draco nodded slowly, admiring her gutsiness. It took a lot to walk up to a stranger and admit that you found them nice to look at.

"Sorry, it's such a small town. Anyways, I was just wondering if… perhaps…"

"You know what, Lindsey? Allow me to ask you. Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"

Lindsey was rather attractive, with brown hair and bright blue eyes. She seemed interesting to talk to and besides, Draco needed someone to keep his mind off the nightmares he'd been having as of late. He didn't just need, he craved something to distract him, something in the form of a woman.

"At the bar on Main Street, to be specific. About eight o'clock. Does that work for you?"

Lindsey looked taken aback. Suddenly, a very warm smile came across her features, settling there, "Yeah. That works. Here's my phone number," She wrote it on the back of a scrap of paper she found in her wallet. Draco took it, tucking it into his pocket.

It felt good to be back in town.

X

"So tell me, Julia, where did you go to school as a child?"

Hermione paused, swirling the milk in her coffee cup. They were in the coffee shop across from the bookstore, which was owned by Andrew's sister. It seemed that they had quite a family monopoly in town.

"I grew up just outside of London, and I went to a simple primary school. It wasn't anything fancy really," Hermione said idly, glancing outside, "I was the smartest girl in my year, and all the children were cruel to me because of it," Oh what she wouldn't do to get those days back.

Andrew frowned, biting his bottom lip, "Kids can be very mean,"

Thinking of how Draco Malfoy was so rude to her in school, Hermione chuckled darkly, "Yes, they can be,"

"Anyways, I was eleven when I went to a boarding school in Scotland. It was where I made my first true friends, Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley,"

At the mention of her late friends, Hermione felt tears gather in her eyes. Why had she even brought them up? She stared intently into her coffee, not wanting Andrew to see. She had told herself she wouldn't talk about her past, especially on such a casual date as this. But it was inevitable, because besides books Hermione didn't have much else to talk of.

"Julia? Are you alright?" Andrew took one of her hands in his. The brunette tried to nod but her chin trembled.

"I'm sorry, it's just that… Harry died when he was just seventeen and Ron was my first love. I… I guess I miss them," She shrugged, taking a deep breath to calm herself, "So what about you? What was your childhood like?"

Andrew smiled and dove into stories about his high school days.

"And our senior prank was hilarious, Julia. Part of it was before graduation when we froze Mentos in ice cubes and during the after party, people's drinks were exploding left and right. We were pranksters. I gave my ex-girlfriend glue disguised as chap stick. She was surprised to say the least," Hermione wasn't sure what to think of this bit of information. On one hand, Andrew's jokes seemed somewhat juvenile and rude, but then again, he reminded her a lot of Fred and George Weasley. Hermione hadn't classified their pranks as particularly terrible, so she decided that it was no big deal.

Hermione also learned that Andrew had gone to college for several years at Fort Hays State University, and had been planning on moving out of town, but his uncle had offered him the shop to run when he eventually died. So Andrew had begun working there instead, using what little money he had saved up to buy a small, one floor house just outside of town.

"I stopped being such a silly frat boy and got serious with my life. Now I'm so busy being assistant manager that I barely have time to worry about anything else anymore. I know that working at a bookshop might seem like an easy job, but my uncle gives me so many things to keep track of that it's actually quite time consuming,"

As Hermione finished off the last bit of her coffee, she realized that the date had been very carefree. It wasn't tense or upsetting, besides the bit about her friends. It was enjoyable, something that the witch hadn't expected. She hadn't exactly trust men (or anyone for that matter) after what she'd been through.

"Did you go to a university?" Andrew asked suddenly, swirling what was left of his now cold coffee about in the cup. Hermione shook her head, thinking of how she'd been imprisoned during the time which she should've been attending school.

"Not exactly," An awkward silence descended upon the pair.

"So have you seen the town hall?"

Hermione smiled, thankful at the change of topic, "No. Are you trying to make a second date with me, Mr. Williams?"

The blonde smiled ruefully, "Well I would like a second date with you, Ms. Smith, but I don't think a trip to town hall would be very interesting,"

Hermione glanced at her watch, and realized that it was nearly five in the afternoon.

"It's getting late," She commented.

Andrew nodded, pushing back from the table, "Yeah, it is. Do you want me to drive you home? I know that Madam Quincie usually picks you up but she had to go into Colorado to visit family today and—"

"I know," Hermione cut into his nervous prattle, "I live in the boarding house remember?"

The man across her flushed, glancing down, "Right. Sorry,"

"I've arranged my own transport home, but thank you for offering. I had a great time,"

They shared a bit of a heated look, but neither made a move to lean in for contact of any kind. Andrew cleared his throat and they both exited the coffee shop. Hermione was met with a blast of warm summer air, and the breeze blew her hair in front of her face, obstructing her view for a moment. When it settled down again, Hermione spotted a white pickup roaring down the otherwise empty road.

It screeched to a stop in front of the duo, and the window rolled down.

"Hurry up, Julia," Malfoy commanded, his usually immaculate blonde hair slightly ruffled by the gentle wind, "I've got a date tonight,"

Hermione blinked in surprised, before nodding and turning to Andrew, "Well Andrew, it was lovely having coffee with you. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"

"Right. By Julia," Andrew waved as she walked around the passenger side of the car, opening the door.

Once she was safely in the truck, Malfoy sped off, leaving Andrew in the dust.

"You had coffee with him?" He sneered, staring at the road in front of him. It was a dreary day, with dark grey clouds threatening to spill at any second.

"Yes," Hermione sniffed, pursing her lips angrily, "Not that it's any of your business, Mr. 'I've got a date tonight',"

"Well I do. And I actually know her name, it's Lindsey. She's a highly intelligent woman who works in the doctor's office near where I work. She's not the kind I usually date, you know,"

"Who do you usually date?" Hermione rolled her eyes, examining her nails.

"Sleazy, stupid and ready for a one nighter," Mafloy wriggled his eyebrows at her.

"That's vulgar,"

The car fell into silence until they passed by a fireworks stand, its signs advertising various sizes and types of explosives. Draco made a U-turn, pulling into the nearly empty lot.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked sharply, folding her arms in front of her. The blonde shot her a sideways look before unlocking the car doors.

"Getting Madam Quincie some more fireworks. She asked me to pick some up for tomorrow,"

"What's tomorrow?" Hermione questioned, getting out with Draco. He gave her another look that made her feel quite stupid, before approaching the fireworks stand.

"The Fourth of July. God Granger, and you call yourself intelligent,"

Hermione huffed in indignation and fiddled with a brightly-colored firework, "It's not the Fourth yet is it? It can't be,"

"Well it is. Get ready for a whole night of headaches," He responded, picking out a package of various fireworks, "It'll be fun,"

Hermione got back in the pickup, staring intently out the window, "Fireworks blow people's fingers off. They're much too dangerous. If you just look up the reported cases of injuries due to—"

"And there's the real Granger, in her truest form. I was waiting for her to appear," Malfoy joked easily, turning into the boarding house's driveway.

"Oh shove it, Malfoy,"

"Back to last names I see, Granger,"

Hermione stormed out of the car, slamming the door behind her. Before she could escape fully into the house, Draco called out to her from the open window, "You know you love me, Granger!"

The brunette cupped her hands around her mouth, smiling, "In your dreams, Malfoy!"