Looking in the mirror was still strange, even months after the night she thought that whole world had fallen apart. She'd thought that once it was over, once she was home, she wouldn't be who she had been.

The memory of looking into the mirror in the hospital, with her mascara still stained under her eyes, cut her. Where had the intelligent girl with curly hair gone? There was something different about her, something that ran deeper than the dark circles under her eyes. Hermione remembered how she couldn't feel the pain from her back being sewn back together; they told her she was in shock.

Nurses said she would feel the soreness later, warned her father of the upkeep of her stitches, and that they would dissolve. Hermione had overheard the words the doctor whispered to her father while she slept, curled up to Malfoy.

Though she hadn't been able to give all of her attention, she'd made out some of the words: panic attacks, suicide, depression, and most of all, "It would be for the best to watch her closely."

They hadn't told her how much her life would change, or how physical wounds were easy to heal. Though she supposed she would have known that, but she underestimated the shock to her mental health. It had been a jarring change to go from studying in the Hogwarts library to feeling afraid to be alone. Before, she enjoyed going on long drives by herself. Mister Granger never told her she couldn't use his car.

She'd been afraid to be alone, and she was sick of it. Anger mounting inside of her, she was screaming. Why should she be afraid to enjoy all of the things she had? Why should she be afraid of a future when it came down to Draco? To university?

Hermione bent over the sink, splashing water onto her face before turning the water back off.

Luna and Ginny sat on the bed in her bedroom, waiting for her to come back out so they could go to dinner. Luna's treat (she had insisted), and the day had been so incredibly long that Hermione wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and invite Draco over once more.

In a surprising twist, Hermione easily accepted that she wasn't angry at him for creating a fake relationship to grab her attention. Not that she didn't wish he would have told her last night, especially since there was a nagging doubt in the back of her mind: unwelcome thoughts like fear if he'd ever lied to her before, or if he would lie to her again.

The fear was valid, but it was wrong. No amount of doubt could make her stop believing in him, in them, though she hated to be such a sap.

Perhaps it made things easier to know that her desires burned brighter than her fears.

In her locker on not the following Monday, but the one after, she found her books to be reorganized and stacked on top of each other. All to make room for a clear vase that had been filled with flowers.

"Damn." Theo whistled just as Hermione's bag slid from her shoulder and fell to the floor. "He feels horrible."

She nodded, biting her lip and squeezing her eyes shut. "I feel like an awful person for leaving him to his own guilt for so long." The guilt twiisted her stomach and she had spent the night awake thinking of the nasty feeling in the pit of her stomach, and it brought her no comfort to know he was doing the exact same thing.

Theo shook his head, patting her mop of hair. "Don't worry about it. I mean, he's gutted over it, but he does understand. Malfoy just wants to make this up to you. He fucked up."

Hermione nibbled on her lip. "Did he though? I'm not sure if holding onto anger is the best way to go about this anyway. Not when it feels like my heart is broken."

"Let him grovel, then forgive him," Theo told her, snatching her bag from the floor. "He's a complete prick, but he's never wanted to see you hurt."

"They're gorgeous." Hermione reached out, running the pads of her fingers along the rose petals before taking her bag from Theo. "Do you know where he is?"

"At this time after another shit weekend? I'd bet he's in the locker room taking a shower. He probably used the school's gym this morning. You know how he puts his anger towards a work out." She nodded at this, slipping her arms through the straps. "Are you going to him?"

She gave a sharp nod, feeling better than she had in the last week. He'd given her time, over a week's worth, and she was sure she was going to burst if she didn't see him as soon as she could. "Would you go with me and make sure there's no one else inside before I go in?"

Theo followed her, grinning as she led him through the corridors of Hogwarts. She'd waved to Ron and Harry but had cut them off by rounding a corner. She open the door leading to the outside and took off down the sidewalk. "Any last minute advice you'd like to give me?" Hermione asked as they neared the field house. "I'm nervous."

Theo shrugged. "Not really, no. You don't have to do anything besides storm in there and snog him. I'm sure he will figure out that you've forgiven him."

She rolled her eyes. "Right, I forgot that you're not the one I should be asking for advice." Hermione laughed, leaning against the brick wall and lacing her fingers through the other while picking dirt from under her nails. There was a nagging doubt in the back of her mind, whispering to her if only to remind her how she feared a week would be long enough for him to lose interest anyway. Perhaps she had already ruined things, and she knew that if there was a way for her to show how far she'd come in the last months, it was that she could stomp those thoughts down.

Hermione needed to remind herself that this was Draco, the one person she'd been able to trust for seventeen years, and she wasn't all that scared anymore.

A squeak fell from her mouth as the locker room door slammed open, and she jumped slightly. Theo let the metal door close behind him, nodding her way. "He has no idea you're here," he said. "He thinks I went in there to call him a bitch."

Muffling her giggle with her hand, she asked him, "Did you, though?"

"Of course I called him a bitch," Theo grumbled. "So, if you could please go in there so the pair of you can make up, that would be bloody fantastic. You don't know how irritating he has been. Harry and I were on the verge of strangling him in his sleep. Lucius is probably almost there. Hermione this, Hermione that," Theo imitated.

"Hey," she scolded. "That's my boyfriend you're talking about."

Wide eyed, Theo pulled her in for a tight hug. Hermione patted him on the back. "My God," his voice was thick with exaggerated sadness. "They grow up so fast." He was pretending to cry, and it was all she could do to keep her straight face and push him away.

"Would you fuck off?" she grumbled. "Tell Luna since I won't see her before the first class, would you?"

"She'll be happy for you."

"Right." Hermione shoved her hands into her pockets. "Well, get going. You can't stay." She smiled as he walked away, nearly skipping, throwing a playful look over his shoulder.

Her heart was hammering in her chest, and she considered turning around, leaving this for another day. It was why she took a quick step and pushed the door open. The metal was cold against her palm. In her haste, she'd shoved the door open, sending it into the wall with a echoing clang.

"Nott, I swear to fucking God if you came in here to call me a bitch one more time, I will-" His voice cut off as she stepped out from behind the wall of the corridor leading into the locker room, her hands clasped behind her back. "Granger?" He stared at her in a state of disbelief, gray eyes widened as he moved to grab his shirt.

He must have just stepped out of the shower. His hair was damp, hanging down in front of his face, but she'd always loved the disheveled look on him. Droplets of water slipped down his bare torso, and Hermione found it hard to look away. Her cheeks flaming, she caught his eye again. He wore black, loose joggers, and he'd clearly been surprised since he hadn't put on shoes yet.

Before he could grab his shirt, a Hogwarts jumper, she sprinted towards him, throwing her arms around him. Muscled arms locked around her, catching her. Though he stumbled backwards, he was quick enough not to let her fall. Draco turned his face into her hair, nuzzling her gently as his fingers massaged the skin along her spine.

"I missed you," Hermione whimpered, squeezing him tightly. "Oh, my God, I missed you so much."

"I know the feeling," he whispered, sweeping her hair over her shoulder and pressing his lips to her throat gently. "I've missed you more than you can imagine."

"Don't you dare ever make me so angry again." Hermione laughed even as she said it. "You damned prat, it has been awful."

He chuckled beside her ear, bending down to kiss the skin below it. "Why was Nott really here?" Draco asked her. "I somehow doubt it was just to call me names."

She giggled. "I asked him to make sure there was no one in here, but I'm positive calling you names was an added bonus. I didn't want to storm in here if the entire rugby team was here with you." He finally set her down, and she was looking up at him, her cheeks hot.

"No, it's just you and me," he told her. "A week is long enough, right?"

Hermione stepped closer to him, sliding her palms up his chest and wrapping her arms around his neck once more. "It's too long if you ask me," she mumbled.

Fingers latching into her hair and melding her into the curve of his body, his lips came down on hers. Hermione gasped just as his tongue ran along the seam on her lips, and it came crashing down on her that this is exactly how it was meant to feel. "Draco," she murmured.

The door leading into the locker room slammed open and she broke away from him, her eyes widening. "Fuck," he muttered, taking hold of her hand and pulling her into the shower. Keeping with appearances, as if he were the only one in here taking a shower, he turned the knob, the water splashing against the floor and covering her shoes. "I can't bloody control myself."

Hermione laughed as quietly as she could when he bent to kiss her again, her back flat against the wall while his palm slapped against the tile above her head. "Malfoy?" A voice that most definitely wasn't hers called out.

"Shh," he whispered to her, his hand settling on her waist. She couldn't pull away, but she was aware the responsible thing would have been to do just that "It's just Wood. Probably Finnigan too, but-"

"Fuck," Hermione hissed as the shower curtain was ripped open.

Seamus whistled while Oliver stared at the two of them under the stream of water, stunned. "When exactly did this happen?" he asked, looking to Draco for an explanation. "We called it, mate!" Oliver slapped Draco on the back.

"Could you get out, please?" Hermione grumbled, her head hitting the wall as she slumped against the wall. "Don't you have someone else to irritate?" Draco was smirking, the smug bastard.

"Actually, we were sent to find Malfoy here. Professor Snape is looking for him since he was late to his first class. I'm sure he'll be looking for you, too," Seamus told them.

Hermione was off the wall and out of the shower in a second. Malfoy shared the same worried look that she wore. "The last person I want to know about what I'm doing-"

"Who you're doing, you mean?" Oliver corrected.

"-Is my Godfather," Draco finished, grabbing the shirt that he'd thrown over the bench and slipping it over his head. "You're soaked; sorry about that."

At Oliver and Seamus's laughter, Hermione threw a bottle of cologne, it was out in the open, sitting in Draco's gym bag, at their heads.

She and Draco rushed out of the locker room, and she at least tried to tame her now frizzy hair, but considering the look on Snape's face as they stepped inside of the school, she didn't think it had done her any good. "And what were the two of you doing that made you late for your first class?" he asked, an amused smile toying with the edge of his lips.

"We were studying!" Oliver called from behind her, dissolving into laughter as their professor's eyebrows nearly shot into his hairline.

"And why are the two you tracking water into the school?" he asked calmly.

"Professor," Hermione began, only to be cut off again.

"They fell into the water fountain," Seamus answered immediately.

"Together?" Professor Snape asked incredulously.

"Oh, yes, attached at the hip these two are," Oliver said, and she thought that Draco was going to give in to his temper.

She had been nearly certain he was going to choke both of their classmates until the passed out. "Ah, well they've always been that way. Perhaps one of you who is not Mister Wood, or Mister Finnigan could tell me why you're coming from the boy's locker room, which is the opposite direction of the water fountain then?"

"Mother-" Draco began, and Hermione clapped a hand over his mouth.

She sighed. "We're sorry, Professor Snape."

It was all too fitting that their professor looked like the cat who got the cream.

Of course, no one was surprised by them. In fact, not one of their friends batted and eye when they had walked into the Great Hall that day, her fingers laced through his. Hermione couldn't stop smiling as Draco acted as if he needed to show her off to every last person that already knew her.

Slipping into her seat, which technically had always been her seat since it was right beside Draco, he slipped an arm around her shoulders. Theo grumbled of how he was going to vomit if this kept up. Harry decided to see how angry he could make Malfoy with his constant innuendos. Luna and Ginny, the latter conveniently sitting far away from Harry just in case, watched on in mostly silence.

Until Luna thought the best ice breaker would be to ask Draco what his favorite sex position was. Hermione just wished the earth would violently crack open and swallow her whole. By sheer luck she was able to say, "Well, Parkinson was all too happy to tell me all about Draco's performance and what he likes, not to mention what he doesn't like." Her nose crinkled. "So, I think I've got a handle on it."

Theo roared with laughter, his knee jerking and slamming into the bottom of the table. "Mate, I don't think you know what you've gotten yourself into?"

Draco was looking at her, clearly surprised ,and his smirk had been wiped from his face. "Granger, what exactly did she tell you?"

Her face was hot, and she clasped her hands beneath the table, glaring at the back of the dark haired girl sitting across the hall. "Well, she told me everything, but yeah, she told me that."

"Fuck."

"Wait, wait, wait," Harry butted in, leaning across the table. "What are we talking about here. Is it kinky?"

"Shut up," Hermione hissed, turning away from them. "It's nothing bad."

"Is that to say you would be interested in whatever that is?" Harry rattled on. "You won't tell me? Fine." He stood from his chair, just a foot away from Malfoy. "Hey, Parkinson! What does Malfoy like that he wouldn't want - you wanker!"

His arm fell away from her shoulders as he sprung forward and tackled Harry. They both tumbled over his chair, crashing against the floor. Hermione was too busy giggling to warn them that Professor Snape was already headed their way.

The last twenty four hours of her life had been spent in the living room of Draco's house, completed by a ridiculous fort they had built by dragging all of the blankets and pillows in the house downstairs. Trying to impress her, he'd climbed on top of the table in his living room to hang a sheet from the ceiling fan to create a makeshift canopy.

"You didn't have to do all off this," Hermione told him, sitting beside him with her back against the wall of pillows. She snuggled into his side, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Take a picture of us. I want to remember this."

He smirked, fumbling with his phone and pulling it from his pocket. Hermione leaned closer, smiling as he turned to kiss her cheek instead of looking at the camera.

"You really shouldn't blush so much; you might end up permanently looking like a tomato."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but then she noticed how he was moving the photo into a album titled with a red heart. "What is that?" She reached out, taking his phone from him. Hot tears pricked her eyes as she scrolled through, realizing that these were all photos of her, but it was when he stopped her from scrolling that her heart stopped.

She recognized this. It was the night he had told her he couldn't sleep at her side anymore. The night she drove his car too fast through London and he had been all too happy to spend it by her side. "Do you know why this one is special?" he murmured, his voice thick, low, and husky.

Hermione turned to face him, her lips a breath away from him. "Is it because it's me?" she asked, albeit hesitantly.

"Close, but not quite. You see, this is the night I realized that I am hopelessly in love with you, and I have been for a long time. I-" She cut him off, flinging her arms around his neck and tackling him against the pillows. "Granger-"

"You're such a softie." She laughed, kissing him hard and grabbing him by the collar. "Just kiss me, and-"

"And don't stop?" He smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," she breathed, leaning down to kiss him only to be rolled onto her back while his fingers trailed along the sides of her arms. "Definitely don't do that," she laughed.

It was still a surprise for her how easy it was to lose herself in him, to be so open and unafraid. His knee settled between her legs but he hovered over her instead of pressing his weight into her. "Hermione-"

"Shh," she whispered, her fingers grasping his soft hair as she tugged him down to her. "We can talk later."

"I'm just trying to tell you-" She bit his lower lip to coax him into silence. "Fuck, Hermione, we're going to be late for the movie if you don't quit doing that!"

She giggled, a high pitched sound that she wasn't so sure had come from her, but it had. "There's a later showing-"

"Why the Hell is there a fort the size of the garage in my living room?" Lucius's voice came through the air just as Draco's fingers had moved to tickle her sides.

"Draco, stop that!" she screamed, still laughing and trying to roll away from him. Unfortunately, it was as she rolled over that she kicked one of the cushions from the couch holding their fort together and it all came tumbling down.

The sheet was torn off of the top and it was then they saw not just Lucius peering down at them accusingly, but her father and Snape as well. "Don't the two of you have a Star Wars to get to?" Snape drawled, sarcasm dripping from every word.

They scrambled to get out of the house.

"Do you imagine Hermione will tell you how their first date went?" Lucius asked, sliding a glass of scotch across the countertop. "I'm worried Draco will tell me anything."

Frank's eyes narrowed. "She won't have to since we're also going to see The Last Jedi, and Severus is driving." He downed his drink in two swallows, moving to dump it into the sink. "That's still my daughter, and if he lays a hand on her during this movie, I'm going throw my drink at his head."

"When was it decided that I was driving?" Severus asked them, sliding his scotch to Frank instead. "Was it from the first time I agreed to drive you all around in University?"

"Well," Lucius said, pushing his sleeve up to look at his watch. "We should really get going if we want to make it there before them."

"Not to worry," Severus commented. "They'll pull over on the side of the road to snog at some point. They were definitely snogging in the boy's locker room when I gave them detention."

"Fucking teenagers." Frank growled as if it were the filthiest word in the world.

This have been the most surreal experience I've had in writing. Epilogue to follow as a double post. Please review both and tell me what you think! Thank you so much for sticking with me!