Her world had went black about a half hour ago and she had begun to get flustered "where are you taking me?" Hermione stopped walking placing her hands on her hips "and whose bright idea was it to blindfold me magically?" She brought one hand to her eyes trying to get the piece of fabric away from her face "seriously Malfoy, people are going to think you kidnapped me."

He chuckled slightly, so close to her that she felt his breath tickle her neck. "The way we're dressed I highly doubt that they think I'm kidnapping you."

She stomped her foot down on the pavement and crossed her arms "you told me to dress nice, not like I was going to get kidnapped and held against my will."

Emeline had lent her a beautiful champagne colored dress that went down to her knees. The top was a gentle v neck with sheer sleeves that went down to her wrists. Delicate lace appliqués decorated the sleeves and the bodice of the dress while a sheet skirt cascaded over the slightly smaller skirt underneath, adored with the same design. Hermione had tried it on and with a bit of magical adjustment it fit her like a glove. A small single diamond sat in between her collar bones, a memento of her mother, and adorned on her feet were a pair of nude heels.

When she had opened the door she had found Draco standing there in a navy blue suit, a white button up, red and navy tie with a champagne opera scarf. She had wanted to laugh at the scarf but now that it had been sitting around her neck and her coat she was thankful for it.

"We're almost there" he rested his hand on her lower back and guided her along the pathway.

"The other night when you had told me you were taking me some where I didn't think we'd have to walk there."

He laughed "it would have spoiled the surprise."

She huffed slightly and turned her head toward the direction of Draco's voice "we could have taken the tube."

"Doesn't matter, were here."

Her vision came back as the blindfold was removed from her face. An audible gasp slipped past her lips and she brought one hand to her mouth, her eyes wide.

"Draco..." her breath caught in her throat as she stared up at the large ornate building in front of her. Its green dome sparkled in the waning sunlight, the golden angels on the corners seemed to shine on their own. "The Palais Garnier!" She looked over at him and back toward the building with its elaborate windows and carved decorations.

He rocked back on his heels and offered his arm "but that's not until later, La Boheme—"

Hermione gasped and looked at him "La Boheme?! That's my—-"

"—-favorite opera, I know." He laughed and as she took his arm he started walking off in a different direction "I remember you screeching it at the top of your lungs."

She laughed softly "I still do. Drives everyone insane." She wrapped her arm around his waist as they walked away from the Opera house and toward a restaurant "Petrossian?" She glanced up at him before resting her head on his shoulder "that's not open yet, it's only five and they open at seven, we're going to have to choose another place to eat."

Draco sighed and opened the door for her "it pays to have connections, Granger."

She peeled herself away from him and waltzed through the door "you don't have to pull out all the stops to impress me, Mr. Malfoy." She looked at him over her shoulder and gave him a half smile before walking into the restaurant.

"Mr. Malfoy is my father!" He called after her, causing a chuckle to erupt from her chest. They were quickly escorted to their table and Hermione swore that the caviar had been brought over by the buckets.

"I've never tried caviar." She eyed it suspiciously as Draco spread a bit on what looked to be a cracker and put a small dollop of what looked like to be softly whipped fresh cream.

"Here" he held the caviar out to her and she took a bite, screwing up her face in disgust causing a hearty laugh escape from Draco's throat. She loved those laughs the most "well, it's not for everyone."

She quickly chewed her bite and nodded "definitely not." She scrunched up her nose as she watched him finish the cracker she had "a bit salty isn't it? And gritty? And fishy!"

He chuckled and loaded another piece "blini, caviar and soft cream is the best, Granger. Sorry your rich tastes end at me." He shrugged and popped the concoction in his mouth making Hermione want to gag.

"The opera is a rich taste. And the theatre and—" He opened his mouth and she raised a finger "don't tell me that you're descended from William Shakespeare again Draco Malfoy, he was not a pure blooded wizard."

Draco shrugged "remind me to show you my family tree then."

"You keep an extensive family tree?" She laughed "wouldn't it be hard to keep track of everyone throughout the generations? And if someone wanted to add someone in, it would be easy! I could write down that I'm descended from the queen of England."

Draco took a sip of his water and shook his head "it's an enchanted tapestry, Granger. It's been in the manor since it was built, my mother has a tapestry in her childhood home and potter has one in Grimwauld place. It adds death dates, names of brides or grooms, anniversary dates, names of children and of course birth dates."

The blood in Hermione's veins turned cold "how does it know...?"

"It's enchanted with old magic, I haven't the foggiest how it works. I haven't looked at it in years and I doubt my mother has either. We don't keep family tapestries in vacation homes."

Hermione visibly relaxed but inside she remained anxious. Scorpius had to be on that tapestry and if Narcissa Malfoy had looked at it any time before her husband's death— Hermione slowly exhaled, she couldn't have seen his name on that bloody tapestry. If she had, Hermione was sure that she would have broken down her door demanding answers of why she was trying to destroy Draco's marriage. She had never formally met Narcissa, but the Narcissa in her head was cold and cruel and would have taken Scorpius the moment she learned of him and she reveled in the fact that she didn't do any of those things so she was still in the clear.

"Walburga Black absolutely loved my time in Grimwauld place, I can only imagine how she'd feel if you fell in love with a muggle born or a half blood and put them up on the tapestry, assuming that the black and the Malfoy tapestries are somehow linked through marriage." She took a bite of the filet mignon that had been placed in front of her. She didn't order this. In fact she didn't order anything and a smile came to her lips as she realized Draco must have done it himself before he came.

"Well, my grandmother was a terrible woman. She only raised two daughters to be completely competent and that's saying something because my great grandmother Walburga was about as pleasant as a cactus."

Hermione nodded "I had an Aunt who was like that. Aunt Beatrice raised four boys. Three of them filtered in and out of prison. My cousin Drew was the only one who made anything of himself. Took after my parents and became a dentist. They don't remember me or my parents though." She shrugged slightly and took a bite of her potatoes. "Go on."

She watched as Draco tucked into his salmon before dabbing at the corners of his mouth with his napkin "I feel as if whomever I fell in love with and whomever ends up on that tapestry shouldn't matter. I'm not there to please them anymore. I almost ruined something that is been important to me because of the ideals that I had been raised on."

She cocked an eyebrow and looked at him "does this have anything to do with a cryptic text about fancying me since first year?" She smiled as a faint pink colour tinted his cheeks "me too."

"What?"

"I liked you since we met on the train. You were really kind and smart and I thought we'd be really great friends. I didn't have a lot of friends before so I was excited to have made one so easily." She swallowed thickly and looked down at her plate "then you said all those mean things in second year and enlarged my teeth in fourth."

"I'm sorry I—"

She held up a hand and looked up at him "I thought for a long time that you hated me and that you wanted me dead. How could you not when you had specifically said so when the basilisk was in the school? I was so furious when we got paired together in charms, Harry and Ron didn't hear the end of it for weeks." She inhaled and closed her eyes "it brought back memories of you on the train, and when you said those things and how I cried at night for someone who had been so nice but turned out so mean, but the longer we stayed partners in charms the more I got to see the boy I met on the train." She smiled a bit "and at some point I fell in love with the amazing bouncing ferret and way before I did that, I had forgave you, because why live a life filled with hate when you can live one filled with love?"

He sighed and grabbed her hand from across the table running his thumb gently on the top of her hand "I'm sorry. I know it's not enough but I am." He gave her a gentle squeeze "when you grow up with Lucius you don't get much of an insight of things. I was taught that muggle borns were lesser than and that they were the scum of the earth. How was I to know that the first person I met on the train was a muggle born?" She watched as his eyes drifted down to the table "when I found out I had been so angry, angry at the fact that the one person who didn't know who I was, the red in my family's ledger, was someone I was taught to believe was worse than the dirt underneath my shoe. You were fantastic and smart and I loved the way your hair seemed to frizz just a little bit more when you talked about the subjects you knew you'd enjoy. You were so headstrong and I never met anyone like you before. I wrote home to my family about you, my mum was thrilled that I had found a friend outside Crabbe and Goyle my father not so much. The summer before second year I heard my father talking about a monster being released in the school, how it happened before he had went to school and how it was a muggle born that died..." he sighed causing his shoulders to slump "when it happened again, when I had said I wished it was you, I regretted the words as soon as they came out of my mouth. I was repeating things I heard at home, and it's no excuse..."

Hermione stood up and brought her chair next to his and rested her head on his shoulder "no, but you learned from your mistakes and that's all that matters." She mumbled and snaked her arms around his waist and gave him a gentle squeeze.

"I never meant to hurt you." He sighed as he rested his cheek on the top of her head.

"It has all been forgiven." She pulled an arm away from his waist and rested her hand on the top of his thigh. "So..." she moved her head and looked at him "first year on the train or after the troll in the dungeon?"

He scoffed "train, I loved how you lit up when you spoke and when I heard how you and the witless duo took on a fully grown mountain troll I wanted to walk up to you and kiss you right there."

Hermione scrunched her nose and laughed "you were eleven, Draco. You shouldn't have been kissing anyone."

He laughed slightly and shrugged "what about you?"

"I told you," she stood up and slid her plates to their side "the train."

.xx.

"Oh Draco!" Hermione wrapped her arm around his as they descended the stairs "La Boheme was a dream to see on the state." She melted into his side "when Mimi died, oh." She placed a hand to her heart and closed her eyes.

He chuckled slightly, it was low and deep and it vibrated Hermione's inner core, she loved when he laughed. It had once seemed rare but everything amused him, it just took getting past his stony walls to see.

"You were blubbering. You're so lucky I'm such a fabulous date and a wonderful gentleman that I happened to have a handkerchief or two."

She nudged him slightly and laughed "I saw you conjuring up handkerchiefs left and right. Thank you."

"You're welcome" He smiled at her and she felt her heart melt into a puddle, it was the smile to end all smiles. His teeth were impeccable and white and her parents had been proud of her choice of a boyfriend based on his teeth alone although they were upset it had been her childhood bully. With a lot of convincing that Draco had changed, her parents had begrudgingly changed their minds. She stopped walking and he followed suit looking at her quizzically. Her boyfriend.

"What are we, Draco?"

He looked at her, confusion still etched on his face "what do you mean?"

"Us" She took a finger and pointed it in between the two of them "what are we?"

Realization dawned on his face and he walked back toward her grabbing both of her hands "What do you want us to be?"

She looked down at his large hands that were calloused and a bit rough, Hermione suspected from quidditch, she couldn't imagine being a lawyer would entice callouses. "A couple." She closed her eyes as she felt the blush creep up from her neck.

"Boyfriend and girlfriend?" His voice was laced with amusement.

"Yes. Sounds a bit silly to say it. We're twenty eight you'd think that there was some better term for—-" she felt his lips crash down on hers and she kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck and melting into the moment that ended way too soon for her.

"I think we can do that."

Hermione smiled and stood up on her toes to kiss him again he tasted like chocolate and the peppermint he had asked for half way through La Boheme. Her hands played with the hair at the nape of his neck idly as their breaths intertwined and their lips battled it out.

"prenez une chambre!"

Hermione laughed as she broke apart from Draco pressing her forehead into his chest to hide the blush of their very public snog in the opera district. For the life of her she couldn't figure out how all their snogging sessions took place in public.

"Get a room?" Draco laughed, and wrapped his arms around Hermione, his hands playing with the strands of her simple up do "we can take this back to my place?"

Hermione panicked "I don't think we should it's not the right time for—"

He chuckled again "no not for that. We proved that we could without—-"

"—but I was Ill and it had been years since—"

"—I can live without it. I'd like to show you the vineyards and—"

"—and you let me throw up on your shoes. You just stood there like a champ and you still stayed the night—"

"-the potions room is to die for. You'd love it. I've made more ink—"

"—did you get sick at all? Oh. And you ran the bookshop all ill—"

"Granger" Draco cupped her face in-between his palms gently "What I'm trying to say is that there are loads of things at the chateaux we can do besides that thing. And you're right, it's too early." He let his hands play with the loose hair at the nape of her neck and pulled her in for a gentle kiss "there are vineyards and a giant lavender, there's a potions set up in the cellar, and the library, you have to see the library."

Hermione inhaled and nodded "the lavender should be gone by now. The best time to see the lavender would be July, this is November." She looked up at him through long lashes and smiled slightly "although the library does sound enticing. And a potions lab you say?" She placed her hands on his waist "if you own a winery you know you're obligated to give your brand new girlfriend a glass. It's tradition."

He moved his hands away from her face and rested his forearms on her shoulders. Hermione assumed their position looked awkward from those passing by muttering under their breath the names of close by hotels or that this was a street and not a bedroom. But she didn't care. She couldn't have been happier than she was right now. A wonderful meal had been shared with a side dish full of conversation that Hermione was positive could have taken a turn for the worst but didn't. The opera had been wonderful and made a mental note to herself to get Scorpius whatever he wanted for wanting to stay with Marcus until Sunday and decided to get his mum a wonderful bouquet of flowers and the book she had been eyeing at her store for quite some time. She was very appreciative.

"I wouldn't call you a brand new girlfriend" He shrugged and started to walk back toward the opera house "mostly just paused." He stopped and looked at her, sadness seemed to pool in his eyes and she wondered if his thoughts were on Astoria but before she could ask he plastered a small smirk to his face and kissed her passionately, erupting soft mews from her "let's go."

Authors note: So sorry it's been so long since I updated. Since the holidays are coming up work has become more hectic (I just completed a 9 day stint recently) and then I ended up getting sick. Since the holidays are coming up I'm going to try to update at least once a week instead of twice a week like I did for a bit there and since I've been so busy I've been unable to write so it'll let me catch up on chapters that way too. I had one whole chapter written about their time in Hogwarts but I figured it would be suited better to a different story, maybe one that ties into this one (using flashbacks here as actual storyline there, we'll see). I'm so so thankful for all of you who have reviewed Black Banshee, CNova, IGOTTEAMEDWARD & Nanny922 I hope you all continue to enjoy and (hopefully) see you next week!