Disclaimer: Don't own them….just another attempt to answer the question-what if….?"

Warning: Post War Hogwarts, Mild Violence, Aghast, Lime… all that other good stuff.

Pairing: HGXDM

Author's Note: I just want to thank the people who've read, reviewed, and added my story to their story alerts and also in their favorite story listing. You guys don't realize just how much….. You inspire me. So thank you. Enjoy! =D

Part Fourteen

Come Monday morning Hermione was positive that her life couldn't possibly get any better than it already had. After spending a quiet weekend alone with the Slytherin prince, consisting of light hearted study sessions as well as endless conversations, Hermione felt lighter than she had been in a long time. Walking into the Great Hall with the blonde, Hermione found that not even the sullen and somewhat angry looks thrown her way from the other houses could ruin her mood. That was what she thought, before a very reluctant looking Ravenclaw in the form of none other than Terry Boot appeared in front her.

"Um-?" Was as far as Hermione got before the Ravenclaw cut her off.

"Look, Hermione." At this the usually friendly Ravenclaw stole a glance at the Slytherin prince, who for the most part was pointedly ignoring him as he stood a little behind the Gryffindor princess, his eyes narrowing slightly, before he coughed and settled in favor of looking at her shoulder. "About the game- it was rotten play. And I just wanted to say not all of us in Ravenclaw house bear ill will against you despite-"

At this he merely shook his head, before extending his hand out not to her, but to Draco behind him, who looked just as shocked as Hermione did. Draco merely gave the Ravenclaw a nod before extending his own hand and exchanging in what looked like a stiff shake, before the pair let go, apparently not in the mood to prolong gesture.

"Right, well." He gave Hermione somewhat of a smile, not quite like his usually cheerful ones he had graced her with before, but not quite hostile either, which the Gryffindor returned in kind. In the past, Terry and Hermione had been in D.A. together and had gotten along rather well, leaving the Gryffindor feeling quite happy at his attempt of mending things between his house and the Slytherin prince as they sat down for breakfast.

The sound of a screech from above sounded, and all at once every Slytherin put down their forks, spoons, and goblets, looking up as a flurry of owls flew in and began to drop parcels to their charge. It was during this time that Hermione observed another form of routine that lay exclusive to the Slytherin house, one that she had only bore witness to once before halfway into the term. All the owls belonging to Slytherin house students dropped to their shoulders after the students had safely secured their packages, seeming to wait for a signal of some kind.

It was then that an owl that could only belong to the Slytherin prince swooped down with all the grace of a bird of exceptional breeding and gently dropped the large box it had been burdened with, circling the table once over and before settling on Draco's shoulder. It was an eagle owl, its feathers a dark, midnight black that seemed to be blue as the sunlight shifted on its feathers, its head held high as it seemed to stare down at her curiously.

"He won't bite." Draco commented casually, and Hermione wasted no time in slowly petting the owl, amazed by just how soft its feathers were- almost like silk, which she could only see as fitting considering exactly which family the bird belonged to. The bird seemed to look at her thoughtfully then suddenly nipping her finger in what seemed to be an affectionate manner, before straightening itself and giving a sharp cry. With a great flap of its wings, the bird rose into the air and flew out of the Great Hall, the rest of the owls following in its wake. Hermione couldn't help but laugh at just how alike the owls were to their owners.

Unlike the previous years when the Slytherins would all boast and lord their packages in front of the other houses, this group did nothing of the sort, opting instead to tuck their packages into the pockets of their robes and resuming their breakfast as though there had been no interruption.

Blaise, who noticed the confused look on Hermione's face, and knew that she was far too polite to just come right out and ask about it, explained with a sigh. "We like to open stuff sent from home, away from prying eyes. Especially considering we're not allowed post until they've been inspected."

Hermione gave a look of sympathetic understanding and simply nodded, returning to her own breakfast and letting the subject drop, knowing how much of a sore subject it must be for them. And the remaining Slytherin's were grateful that the Gryffindor held not pity in her warm eyes for them. If there was anything that hadn't changed about the occupants of Slytherin house it was that what they hated most was having someone pity them. It just was not done.

A sudden thought occurred to Draco, causing the Slytherin prince to turn and ask, wondering why he had never noticed before. "Why don't your parents send you anything, Hermione?" Draco, knowing that Hermione's parents were not under very strict house arrest,( like the rest of Slytherin house was, as well as his own) couldn't help but wonder how he had missed that she never seemed to get any post.

At the question, five other pairs of eyes turned to her as Hermione felt her face flush, and her eyes begin to prickle from behind their sockets. Not raising her eyes to meet what she was sure to be very curious looks from her new group of friends- because at this point Hermione could not accept or see them as just mere acquaintances- she moved her fork around her plate a bit before answering.

"I -it's because-" Hermione felt her throat close up and she began to berate herself for not being strong enough to say the words she wished to say- or care to admit.

Draco, upon seeing this sudden melancholy aura surrounding his usually fiery Gryffindor, felt quite foolish for asking what seemed to be an equally sensitive topic for the girl. A part of him felt bad for asking such a tactless question and for not quite thinking it through before asking, while another part- another that was oh so curious, wondered about the vast number of secrets that he was sure laid behind those warm chocolate eyes he loved to get lost in.

"I- can't. I'm sorry." She finished quietly and so sadly, that it left the other six Slytherin's perplexed as to what to do. Although they were all childhood friends and knew exactly what to say and do to comfort each other , they were not so much sure how to handle the clearly distressed Gryffindor- the fact that it had been one of their own to have caused it making it that much harder.

Pansy rolled her eyes as she mouthed a 'nice going' across to the Slytherin prince, who promptly huffed and raised a subtle hand towards the pensive Gryffindor, mouthing a 'what should I do now?' back to the brunette, all the while his face taking on an exasperated expression. Theodore and Adrian bit on their knuckles to quell their laughing, knowing that although it wasn't the time for such things, the look on Draco's face making it quite hard to be serious.

Blaise was no help, opting to give Draco a sympathetic shrug before returning to his scrambled eggs, all the while glad that it was the Slytherin prince that Pansy was laying into and not himself. There was only so much nagging from the woman that the Zabini heir could take in a day, and if he wanted to start not only his day, but week off right, he knew it was best to stay out of it. Daphne, ever the poised and more mature one in the group, opened her mouth to subtly change the subject, when the sound of someone coughing caught the group's attention.

They all turned and were quite surprised to see the one and only Harry Potter standing quite bashfully behind the Gryffindor princess. Nodding to each of them in greeting, to which all of them – aside from Daphne, who gave a very polite nod in return- were too shocked at the sight of him standing near their table to return the gesture, he locked eyes with the blond, before clearing his throat again.

"Malfoy." Harry greeted plainly, not breaking eye contact with his longtime rival.

"Potter." The Slytherin prince returned just as blandly, eyeing the glasses speckled boy coolly. Addressing the Boy Wonder seemed to snap Hermione out of her daze, for as soon as Draco uttered his archrival's surname, the girl whipped her head behind her in surprise.

"Harry!" She exclaimed, before jumping up in her seat and embracing the dark haired Gryffindor. Besides the classes they shared together, the two Gryffindors had seldom time to themselves since Hermione had taken to sitting at the Slytherin table for all her meals. Reason being her and Ron not only had not made up, but it seemed that he was back to his old ways of prancing around with one Lavender Brown, something that Hermione, through past experience could not and would not stomach, when all she wanted was a decent meal not some peep show, thank you very much.

Suddenly, Hermione felt very guilty for neglecting her best friend, and told Harry as much, to which he only laughed off. "Hermione, its fine. I know how busy you've been. And yeah, you know." He made some gesture past his shoulder, and Hermione could vaguely make out Ron and Lavender putting on a show over at the Gryffindor table. "Anyway, we have an hour before potions starts and seeing as we haven't seen Hagrid much I thought -"

"Let me grab my bag." Hermione interrupted excitedly, not allowing her dark haired friend to finish. Just as she turned to grab her bag, she found the group of Slytherin's staring at her with various expressions of amusement and confusion at her sudden change of mood.

Catching a pair of glowing grey eyes, Hermione hesitated. Although she and the Slytherin prince hadn't made anything official, Hermione couldn't help but feel oddly guilty for leaving him and running off with Harry. Though her mind rationalized that she had no right to feel that way, seeing as she already spent so much time in the blonde's company, more so than her best friend, her heart reminded her that it was that exact reason for her guilt- she liked her time spent with the blonde. Plain and simple.

Looking into his eyes, she was both startled and perversely pleased to see it watching her collect her things forlornly-making Hermione realize that something was amiss. "Um, I'll see you in class?" She asked, not quite knowing why she just had to make sure that the blonde was fine with her leaving his presence for the next hour or so.

Draco himself was caught in a mix of emotions. On the one hand, he found himself wanting to be quite selfish, and telling her that no he didn't want to see her to class; that he would rather escort her there himself, maybe while holding her bag like a proper gentleman was expected to- and if she was obliging, maybe even holding hands all the while. But then the more mature side of him reasoned that the Gryffindor rarely, if not at all, spent time out of the company of him and his friends, and though they were all on good terms with each other, Potter was better suited to comforting her better than they could when situations like earlier arose. And if he was to really think about it, granting your significant other- or would be significant other in their case - space was sometimes needed to maintain a healthy relationship. The last thing Draco wanted to do was drive the Gryffindor away before they really started by not allowing her some time with her mates- even if it was Potter of all people.

"Yes, of course." Putting on a small smile, and ignoring Potter, who was standing quite awkwardly behind the Gryffindor princess, Draco nodded to her before turning back to the table and raising his goblet for a drink. Before the cup could reach his lips, Draco nearly dropped his cup, when he felt a pair of small, soft lips on his cheek, giving him a slight peck, before all together it was gone- the tingling feeling on the area the only sign that it had happened at all, the encounter all the fast for Draco's liking.

"Let's go, Harry." Blushing furiously, Hermione spun on her heel, and practically dragged the lightning scarred boy out the double doors of the Great Hall.

"Shall we follow her, Mr. Draco?" True to their title as Hermione's shadows, Leo and Taurus appeared in front of the now empty seat, not a second after the Gryffindor had left the Great Hall. Draco mauled over the question for a minute before shaking his head in negation.

"No. She's with Potter." He said as though that explained everything. As Leo and Taurus nodded and disappeared back to their seats as quietly as they had appeared, Draco was glad that he didn't have to explain himself to them, though they asked did not question him. Because if he was honest, the fact that she was with Potter made Draco all the more sure that she was safe and not in need of her guards. Still, Draco sighed, as he made to get up, the rest of Slytherin house following as were their custom, all eager to open their parcels from home- the thought didn't soothe the ache in his chest he had felt the moment she had left.

Author's Notes: Hmm… not much to say here. Lmao. I just want to say that I'm sorry if it seems that I'm dragging the story out but I assure you that this isn't just pieces of filler I'm writing- I just have so much to write about that I need to space everything so that it doesn't come out rushed or anything (something I abhor when reading a fanfic!) and that it flows and events happen in the order they're meant to. So yeah. Everything will come together in the end, don't' worry! =D

Like always, I hope that you enjoyed the chapter and are looking forward to the next.