Generally, Draco would say his lover is "reserved" for the remainder of the day. Occasionally old memories overtake her and she struggles with the tears that come. Other times she seems entranced, no doubt living old moments and considering the people lost from her life. He speaks when he thinks is appropriate and holds his peace when the far-off look takes her away.

In the evening, he feels unsure how to proceed. "Do you want to stay with me tonight? Or would you prefer some time alone?"

"Jesus, Draco I obviously don't know what I need," she snaps, Potter's muggle swearing habit seeping through. "Sorry. I...I really don't know. Can you imagine this?" She's exasperated. "I'm still me. I still remember waking up this morning and being with you. I love you, Draco. Really. Maybe more in a way. It's like there was this filter keeping my emotions in check. You've been... wonderful." She flops down on her sofa and gestures for him to sit: In the chair across from her rather than beside her, much to his disappointment.

"You know if I'd run into you in that pub without the curse I probably wouldn't have even spoken. I would've ignored you and pretended to be really into poor Dave so you wouldn't approach. Doesn't that bother you about all this? It bothers me."

He starts to speak but the question was rhetorical and she waxes on.

"Should I be grateful maybe? The curse allowed me to be open. My career soared. I've never been bogged down by stress or pressure and I'm quite good at it. My relationships have all ended with friendly conversation. No screaming matches. Of course looking back they probably left because they were frustrated. Like you were."

He opens his mouth once more but she's not finished, working herself up into quite a lather. "I'd never have dated you if I'd remembered everything. I would have taken one look at your blond hair and that sneer that always sits on your face and turned away. So should I be really happy with curse then? Did I do myself some grand favor?!" She's nearly screaming now.

"Or maybe this is just some huge mistake then right? What if we shouldn't even be together?! If I wouldn't have talked to you and you certainly wouldn't have deigned to speak to someone like me," she spits the bitter words. "You probably don't even really-" she cuts herself off and her lip shakes. "You won't even like me. How can you love me? You don't even know who I am."

The tears were difficult but he could handle them. The screaming he could wait out. But this vulnerable voice breaks him down and Draco rises to take a seat next to his witch, pulling her, whether she wants it or not, into a comforting embrace.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. I knew this would be hard but…" He strokes her hair a moment and then pulls back, looking down at her face. "I don't want to make you do anything but I'd rather prefer if you'd stay with me tonight. I'll sleep on the sofa if you want I just don't want to worry about you being alone."

She nods. "I think I agree. You don't even have to take the sofa," she laughs softly. "But I think I want to ask you to do something with me tomorrow. Will you owl Harry? Tell him I want to speak with him and Ginny and Ron? And...would you come with me?"

"Whatever you need. And that, by the way, is just one example of how you'll know I love you. I'll spend a day with the Potters and the Weasel." He winks and this time she's not so offended by his nickname for Ron. Progress perhaps. He hopes so.

"For the record, I know exactly who are you are, Hermione Granger. Bushy-haired, know-it-all, swotty, infuriating… gorgeous, brilliant, fierce lioness. I look forward to you getting riled up when I'm a prat. I've sort of missed it." He kisses the grin on her face.

XXXXX

In the night, she dreams of Fred and running and Voldemort's snake-like face and her Mother's cold, angry eyes.

XXXXX

When Hermione wakes the following day, her back is pressed up against Draco's, their feet intertwined. She runs her toes up his calf as she does many mornings like this and then stops, the previous day flooding back. It's killing her in subtle ways and she knows it's not easy on him either. She makes a decision to put some effort into her comfort level with him and rolls over to bury her nose into his back between his shoulder blades, wrapping her arm over him, gripping his shoulder lightly.

She hears him sigh and his hand reaches up to take hers. "How did you sleep?" This is not a simple pleasantry she knows; his concern is evident.

"As expected. At least I managed a few hours. I'm grateful for that." He turns and faces her but keeps a hold of her hand between them. "What time are we going to see Harry?"

He grimaces a little. "Ten. I thought we best get on with it early. Maybe that will leave some time in the afternoon for more private past-times," he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively and she can't help but giggle.

"You'll have to behave all day you know. No hexing anyone."

Draco rolls his eyes. "I won't hex anyone. You know, even I have to give credit, all of your git friends wanted this broken as much as I did. Their not completely worthless."

She looks regretful and sighs at herself. "They didn't really want me to do this in the first place. To be fair, that's partly because they didn't understand everything I was dealing with. I love them dearly, even Ron-," Draco flinches.

"Not like that. Really. Not like that, Draco. It's why we didn't work. Even the curse couldn't make me look past it. It made me try, sure. For months. Years, maybe. I knew something wasn't right but the curse made me think 'it's not so bad' or 'wait it out a little'. But when he forced the issue, I knew he was right. Then the curse just took over and made it easy to let him go."

He's been listening intently and nods as she finishes.

"Anyway my point was, that I love them, in completely unthreatening ways," she reminds quickly, "but they were not always the best at being supportive. I was definitely strong for them when they needed me to be. What other thirteen year old girl was going to potentially take on a basilisk? But they tended to get very comfortable with my being strong. They forgot that sometimes I was still a girl- no that's sexist, scratch that - that I was a person. A child for much of it. I just wanted a hug sometimes." She gives a silly grin and Draco seems to take that as his cue. His arms are around her before she could even think to protest if she wanted to.

Which she doesn't.

Finally, she pushes away but only enough so she can speak. "We should start our day. I'd like to have a little breakfast before we see the boys."

"Waffles?" He smiles that boyish smile that simultaneously helps her forget the sneer, yet also brings back those memories on the train that always end with it reappearing on his face. Filthy Mudblood.

Her smile is sad but if he notices he doesn't say. "Sure. Waffles sound great."

XXXXX

Draco pauses as they approach the door and Hermione looks back in question. "Just steeling myself, love." He inhales a dramatic breath like he is about to face a Norwegian Ridgeback.

Hermione rolls her eyes. "You know, you got on just fine when we had dinner a few weeks ago."

"Yes but a few weeks ago you had this charm that forced me to make you happy. Now I'm doing it all on my own. Can't you appreciate the sacrifice?" He whines with a charming pout to his lips, winning a smile from his witch.

"I can appreciate it. After you've actually done it." She turns and takes the last few steps, knocking before he can so much as follow.

"You're cold, Granger. Oh how I suffer."

His arm is around her waist when the door opens and even offensive ginger hair doesn't take the smile from his lips.

"Hermione!" Ginny gasps and her eyes tennis-match bounce between the two. "Are you and Malfoy?..."

"He couldn't stay away." Draco is stunned by how natural she seems. How much like herself… herself? Is that even correct? Regardless she's not screaming, cursing, or crying so that seems encouraging.

Ginny moves to the side and gestures into the cottage. "Come in then. Would you like a drink? I know you do, Malfoy." She grins and points to a bottle on the top of their small entertaining bar. "It's your fault you know. Harry only wants muggle scotch now. And the expensive stuff."

He snorts, "I should've brought a bottle. Next time." The promise of a repeat visit is not lost on the two ladies and Draco smirks at Hermione's expression gazing up at him. "You'll catch flies, Granger, don't look so shocked. Like you won't make me come back."

"I-" her expression clears a little and she agrees with a keenly satisfied expression. "You're absolutely right. I will most certainly make you come back."

Ginny has moved away from the pair and is placing glasses on the bar top. "Harry just went to the burrow to fetch Ron. Hermione, drink?"

"I'm alright, thanks, Ginny. How much longer before we can toast your return to drinking?"

Ginny recaps the liquor and moves to hand the glass to Draco. "Thirty two days if the healers are to be believed. Surely he could come out early though. I've been trying to tell him January is a much better month to be born. Garnet birthstone, good Gryffindor color. Pansy-ass purple next month." She looks down and speaks to the child directly. "I strongly encourage you stop messing around and get on with it. My bladder thanks you in advance, even though my nether-regions might disagree after the fact."

The floo interrupts what Draco thinks is the most uncomfortable he has ever been.

To punctuate that, he'd like to remind you he once had a sociopath living in his dining room.

"Oy, Ginny, she here?" Ron's voice tears through the room in that abrasive way he has but both he and Harry stop when they see the couple looking at them.

"Ron?" Hermione's eyes are wet and Draco places a reassuring hand on the small of her back. He's only a little hurt when she steps away from him, toward her ex, before schooling the emotion on his face. Then she is flinging herself around the Weasel's neck and sobbing and Draco has to look away, taking a deep drink of his scotch.

Thank Merlin for the She-Weasel and her liquor cabinet etiquette.

Harry is the first to speak. "Hermione are you-" He stops and looks to Draco instead. "Did you do it?"

Draco nods, eyes falling back on his lover as she embraces another man who is clinging back to her in kind. "It's done. Merlin, Potter, you lot are miserable friends."

"Bugger off, Malfoy, you try telling her not to do something," Harry mumbles back.

In spite of everything, Draco grins at that a little. It's a fair point.

Hermione meanwhile is extracting herself from the arms of her former lover and then gives Harry a rivaling hug. Somehow this makes Draco feel a bit more secure. It makes the hug seem more innocent if it is shared with two men, one being married to the pregnant woman in the room.

Ginny suggests everyone sit, mostly she says because her ankles are the size of Hagrid's thighs and she has this extra twenty pounds of baby and afterbirth throwing her off balance. Draco blanches a bit and follows the Golden Trio plus One. Harry and Ginny take the same love seat and Ron the fireside chair that they had occupied the last time Draco came to call. That leaves the sofa for himself and Hermione and he doesn't hesitate to place himself possessively close and take her hand in his.

"My Mother broke the curse and, really I guess she gets credit for lifting that annoying Compulsion Charm too." Three sets of eyes look at Hermione and wait for confirmation.

"It's true. I'm… uh. Well that's an odd thing," she muses and shakes her head almost unperceptively, "what to say?... I'm back to normal?" She shrugs.

"Are you…" Harry hedges, "are you alright? You're not mad at us are you? For helping."

Draco snorts for the second time in so many minutes. "Loads of help that you were."

"Hey!" Ron shoots Draco a deathly glare.

"Alright, I'll concede, Weasel helped. A little. You were pretty worthless, Potter."

"I was under a vow for God's sake, Malfoy!"

"So was he," he gestures back and Ron but can't help but wonder at himself why he's defending the ginger. "Whatever. It doesn't matter. It's done." He waves his hand in that Narcissa way and stops quickly when he realizes it. He really needs to watch that.

"I just wanted you to know that I'm…back to how I was." Hermione speaks quietly to the room. "I'm sorry if I made you all worry-"

"Nope, no way. Stop right there, Granger." Draco cuts her off with an assured and mildly frustrated voice. "Don't you dare apologize." He looks at the other three. "And don't you dare let her. Stop letting her take the responsibility for everything. That's how she ended up here."

"That's not fair. We didn't ask for her to apologize. Don't pin this on us-"

"No, he's right, Harry." No one is more shocked than Draco when Ron speaks again, in his defense no less. "'Mione, you're sorry more'n you should be. We're fine. You don't need to feel bad about any of this, ok?"

Ginny pipes up quickly. "Honey, we love you. We're just glad you're ok. Are you though? I mean are you ok?"

Hermione who has been ignoring the deeper thoughts in her head for a refreshing long span, a good hour Draco would guess, suddenly feels that weight crashing down and her eyes are wet glass. "I'm struggling a little. I think I'm sort of out of practice. You know with… feeling things. Really deeply feeling. And then I think of all… there are so many things…" Draco places a reassuring arm around her shoulders and she leans into him. He places a soft kiss on the top of her head and rubs her arm gently.

As her breathing levels off and the silence is crushing the room, Ron breaks it with all the subtlety of a Manticore in a potions shop. "Well this is weird, innit? I mean 'Mione and Malfoy right?" He looks around to each friend with a silly grin, searching for confirmation of agreement. The entire room stares a hole collectively into his brain but he is nonplussed. Hermione, surprisingly, chuckles in response.

"I've missed you, you know, Ron. Can we… are we going to be friends again? Someday?" The mirth in her voice slowly seeps away into sadness by the end.

"Of course we can. We are! I just… look, Hermione I'm married now. It wasn't because I couldn't get over you or some rubbish that I stayed away. I just didn't know if it would mess you up. You were trying to take care of yourself. Cast a bloody dark spell and all. What if me being around screwed it up for you?"

"Like I did," Draco offers. He says it with no malice, no accusation, and no self-loathing. It's just a fact. Weasley was probably right. It's likely his presence would have been a strain on her curse. Not to mention that compulsion charm could have confused their relationship. They might have suffered a torturous "on again off again" break-up as a result.

The conversation lightens slowly and even Draco offers a soft laugh on occasion. Not a guffaw or really anything with volume. More just letting air out of his nostrils with a little more force than usual. But considering the situation, he thinks he's being an absolute peach.

When the conversation winds down and the visit reaches its end, they thank the Potter's for their hospitality and bid farewell to Ron. Draco manages to shake his hand without a sneer. He thinks he deserves a cookie for that.

The couple returns to Draco's flat to find his own owl with a message around his leg.

"Cronus? Is that for me?"

The owl lifts his leg higher and gives Draco a look that says "why else am I here holding my leg out with a bloody piece of paper tied to it? Git." Or something similar.

My Darling Son

I have news that I would very much like to share with you if you might come to the manor this afternoon. Please bring Miss Granger as this is a family matter and I assume if I did not invite her you would argue her future place within said category. Don't argue with me, Draco, I know you would have been thinking it. I'll expect you at 4:00pm sharp unless you have a very good reason that you cannot attend. Bring some of that muggle Champagne you know I like. We shall have a toast.

Much Love

"Your Mother likes muggle liquor too? My, what would the Dark Lord think of the Malfoys now?" She means it in jest and he appreciates the effort it must have taken, but Draco has trouble returning her light banter.

We shall have a toast.

His stomach turns knowing very little that would incite that from his Mother.

Salazar help him.