Hi there! Back again :)

Just wanted to say thank you SO much to all the reviewers from my last chapter, like I said I've been having a really rough time but already I'm remembering how much I love this community and writing, so it's extra lovely to know there are still people out there reading!

As usual (hehe) I am editing this in a rush so just let me know if I've made any errors!

We've got a few different threads going on in this chapter, so it's a bit of a long one. Hope you enjoy! :) xx

Previously...

She nibbled his lower lip and he growled in response, hoisting her up by her thighs and dropping her on the counter top. Hermione was dimly aware of the logical side of her brain telling her what a terrible idea this was, on par with or possibly worse than kissing Theo Nott while drunk and then breaking his heart at their shared workplace, but she couldn't find the willpower to care.

The only mildly coherent thought she had as Draco Malfoy slid her dressing gown off her shoulders and let it drop to the floor was that Pansy wasn't there to walk in on them this time, and that yes maybe he had changed for the better, but she definitely had too.

"And then she just asked you to leave?" Ginny probed over a mug of green tea her doting husband had just made for her. With her feet up on a plush footstool in the Potter's cosy living room she was the picture of relaxation.

Pansy nodded, blowing on her own mug and offering Harry a smile of thanks as he took a seat beside his wife and slid his arm around her.

"There is definitely something going on between the two of them." The redhead said resolutely, which caused Pansy to snicker.

"We already know there's something going on between them Ginny, or did you forget the multiple snogs she's described to us in great detail?"

At this Harry looked more than a little uncomfortable and shifted in his seat. As if Hermione and Theo Nott hadn't been weird enough, now he had to cope with the idea of his best friend being involved with Malfoy.

"Well yes, I know about that, but have you forgotten her profusely telling us she's not interested in him and nothing else will happen?" Ginny pointed out, sighing and running a hand through her silky red hair. "I really think there's too much sexual tension between them and she's fooling herself, there's no way they can keep dodging the subject, eventually they'll just get it over with and shag."

Harry stood up from the sofa and awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. It was clear that though he thought he was able to handle the topic of conversation the mere mention of sex had turned his stomach.

"I'm going to head off before I hear something I really don't want to." He muttered, bending down to give Ginny a kiss and hurrying out of the room.

"I've tried to warn her about him, but I doubt she'll listen to reason." Pansy sighed, continuing as though the boy who lived hadn't spoken. "She's far too precocious, plus you know how Hermione likes to try and 'fix' people."

Ginny nodded slowly and took a long sip from her mug, rubbing one hand across her abdomen as she thought. Pansy was right, Hermione throwing herself into saviour mode regardless of the emotional toll on her was a trait that was as frustrating as it was endearing.

Hermione had always been pigeonholed as more of a Ravenclaw than Gryffindor, but her complete abandon when it came to trying to help her friends, or in this case, former enemies, definitely towed the classic Gryffindor line of 'is this brave or just reckless?'

"Have you considered that maybe she could?" She held up a finger as Pansy opened her mouth to argue and carried on. "I don't mean fix him completely, no one can do that, but maybe she could help him. A lot of his guilt stems from her after all, their tensions at school and what happened to her in the manor."

Pansy nibbled her bottom lip and then shook her head.

"I don't know Gin; Draco is a rather terrible combination of depressed and stubborn. The man doesn't want to be helped, he likes to wallow in his own misery and then complain when things don't get any better. Hermione would be tethering herself to a sinking ship."

Ginny shrugged and nodded solemnly. She didn't completely agree with Pansy but was already tired of their topic of conversation and wanted to move on to a more tantalising one. Also she was feeling rather stubborn herself and privately resorted to see if there was something she could do about the Malfoy-Hermione situation. She was already bored of not being at work and found herself feeling restless at home with nothing to do, perhaps some meddling would be just what the doctor ordered.

"So, now let's talk about you and my brother."

Pansy groaned and placed a hand to her head in irritation. Her least favourite discussion point.

"Don't give me that, we both know this needs sorting." Ginny snapped in a voice scarily similar to her mother's. "You need to speak to him. He's been miserable all week and frankly I'm tired of it, especially as you haven't been much better. The two of you are even more irritating than Hermione and Malfoy – at least they can still pretend there's nothing between them."

"Ginny you know what he did, why shouldn't I be allowed to ignore him?" Pansy whined, feeling like a small child but also not particularly caring. She wasn't even really that upset with Ron any more, she knew that the situation with Penelope had been a messy one, and also knew that she hadn't helped by confusing him so much when it had been obvious that he wanted something more.

"Yes I know what he did, and how terrible he feels about it." The other witch replied sternly. "I also know that you had been pushing him away for weeks and giving him very mixed messages – as you told me yourself."

Pansy sighed once again and regretted not taking her time out of the flat to go and visit Astoria and Blaise. Neither of them knew about any of this and she had a feeling they wouldn't care if they did. Sure Astoria would want all the salacious details but that would be as far as her other friend would probe. Sometimes she missed life when she was surrounded by Slytherins, bottling up your emotions may not be healthy, but it at least avoided awkward conversations like this.

"It's not as simple as making up and getting together, I don't even know what I want yet! Do you really think I should throw myself back into whatever this is and mess him around more?!"

"It's not like he's expecting you to turn around and ask to be his girlfriend," Ginny said exasperatedly, "Just give him another chance and maybe go on a few actual dates this time."

"Honestly at this point I would rather go back home and take my chances with our two star crossed lovers than listen to any more of this." Pansy snapped, causing Ginny to smirk. "Now why don't you fetch me my favourite person and perk up my Saturday instead of harping on at me about your idiot brother."

As if on cue, there came an excited shriek from the doorway and the youngest of the Potters toddled into the room.

Pansy put down her tea and rushed over to James, pulling him into her arms and squeezing him tight.

"Hello little fucker!" She cooed, planting kisses on his rosy cheeks as he giggled and tugged at her hair. "Where has your mummy been hiding you hm? I've missed you so much!"

"Got to minimise his exposure to you so that he doesn't start swearing before he's 18 months old." Ginny teased, opening her arms to embrace her son as he struggled free of Pansy's grip and ran towards her.

"How are you and the hubby feeling about number two? And more importantly, how sad are you to be missing another Halloween?" Pansy asked with a grin. She had already made plans with Hermione to hit the town in central London when the holiday came about in just over a weeks' time.

"I'd say we're getting more excited to be honest, we get to find out the gender soon which is always fun. This time around has been quite a lot more hard work though, I'm thinking it will be a girl it's been so different to James." Ginny replied as she tickled her wriggling son. "And in terms of missing you and Hermione getting shit faced in next to no clothing? I'm devastated."

"We're going as sexy muggle nurses this year I've already bought the costumes, needless to say Hermione is not looking forward to it." Pansy said wickedly, standing up and stretching. "Speaking of I think I'll head back and see how she's getting on. Malfoy or no Malfoy I need to make sure she's not too stressed about the Prophet."

Ginny rolled her eyes as she released James so he could return to causing havoc.

"You are so transparent, don't pretend like you're not just going to spy on the two of them."

Pansy grinned as she moved towards the fireplace, waving goodbye to the toddler who was currently engrossed in chewing his chubby little fingers.

"Come on Gin, as interesting as Draco and Hermione are, I have no interested in their sexual tension-filled arguing. It's not as if anything else is going to happen on a Saturday morning, you're forgetting that there hasn't been any alcohol involved this time."

Penelope Clearwater took a delicate sip of her chamomile tea, bright pink manicured fingernails tapping against the side of the china cup as she did so.

Her long honey blonde hair was tied up in a velvet ribbon, and she was showing enough cleavage in her silken maroon blouse to persuade any wizard to her cause.

"You've got to be fucking joking."

Well, almost any wizard.

She looked up and smiled brightly at the dishevelled curly haired man now stood in front of her and gestured for him to take a seat.

"And good morning to you Theodore. Can I get you anything? I hear the cappuccinos are especially good, but then again this is a muggle establishment." Her serene demeanour did nothing to improve his sour mood.

"I'd rather make this meeting a quick one." He snapped, throwing down his brief case but not bothering to take off his cloak as he slumped down into the armchair opposite the conniving witch.

"Suit yourself." Penelope shrugged, dabbing delicately at her rouged lips with a napkin before folding her hands in her lap and fixing him with an icy blue stare. He felt strangely as though he were about to embark on the worst job interview of his life. "I'm glad that you got my note with this morning's paper, but I must say I'm surprised at your attitude. I thought our opinions on this whole Malfoy-Granger situation were one and the same?"

Theo sneered in response and ran a nervous hand through his hair. He had been woken far too early for his liking that morning to a tapping on his bedroom window. Nott hadn't so much as read the Prophet in four years, finding the rag inflammatory at best and unreadable at worst, so his bewilderment had quickly turned to suspicion once he realised that was what the owl was trying to deliver.

The headline of the paper had been enough to make his stomach turn for several reasons. His first reaction was overwhelming anger and disappointment. He had of course been suspicious of Draco and his behaviour towards Hermione but had hoped (it seemed in vain) that she would have the sense to stay away from him. The confirmation of his fears splashed over the front page of the wizarding world's most popular paper was certainly not how he had wanted to begin his weekend.

His upset had then turned once again to confusion as a small pink note had fallen from the mid-section of the paper, instructing him to head to a café in muggle London which he now realised was the same Hermione and Draco frequented during the work week.

"I don't know what you're talking about, you and I are not alike in any way Clearwater. In fact I couldn't think of a worse person to emulate." He snapped, balking at the very thought of having something in common with the nasty witch before him.

"Oh spare me the bullshit Theo." Penelope retorted, narrowing her eyes and dropping her irritatingly perky demeanour for the first time that morning. She had woken up early having hardly slept out of excitement. She had known from the beginning that her and Gregory's plan was a risky one, but the headline had been even better than she could have imagined – and all she'd had to do was tip off a few reporters and have them wait around the café for Granger and Malfoy to show.

She had guessed that the two of them would be far too naïve to expect any wandering eyes in a secluded corner of muggle London. All it had taken was that tip and a few quotes about an implied sexual relationship and she had managed to make the front page. Penelope almost wished she could brag about it, but she knew that would earn her more than a few enemies.

"We both have a bone to pick with the wizarding world's hottest couple, don't pretend that frumpy bitch didn't embarrass you as well."

At this Theo slammed his fist down on the quaint table in between them and his blue eyes flashed with rage.

"What on earth do you gain by spreading such vitriol about other people's lives? Hermione is easily twice the witch you could ever be in more ways than one, your salacious gossip hasn't even begun to change that."

Her reaction only served to irritate him further, she cocked one elegant brow and slowly lifted her china tea cup back up to her lips. When she had finished taking a sip she was smirking nastily.

"Really, what is it about that girl that has you all under her spell? I certainly don't see it myself." She commented drily, "It seems you have come out even worse than I expected with all this nonsense going on, caught feelings for the mudblood did we?"

Not wanting to give her the satisfaction of prodding him any further Theo reached for his briefcase and got to his feet.

"I have no idea why you asked me to meet with you Clearwater, perhaps you thought I could be persuaded to join you in your nefarious and frankly embarrassing plots, but I can think of no worse way of spending my Saturday."

Before he could make his escape, Penelope was on her feet and standing in his way arms folded.

"Have you not gotten tired of living in Malfoy's shadow? Being the lacky to a man who was too fearful to pick a side in the war and stick to it? A man who cares for nobody but himself?" She bared her pearly white teeth angrily and pointed an accusatory finger into his chest. "This is why Hermione could never fall for you, because no matter how much nicer, cleverer and more supportive of a man you believe yourself to be, you will always be the only wizard more cowardly than Draco Malfoy."

Theo felt ignited by fury and humiliation, and for possibly the first time in his life he was close to losing his temper completely and drawing his wand on the witch before him in the middle of muggle London. He stopped himself as his hand was reaching instinctively for the weapon in his pocket and took a step closer towards her, staring menacingly down into her flustered face instead.

"You know nothing of my relationship with either Hermione or Draco, that much has been made abundantly clear. You also have even less brain cells than I initially assumed – something I wasn't sure was possible – and I would take immense pleasure in hexing you into oblivion right now." The entire time Theo spoke his voice never rose above a murmur, and to his satisfaction he noticed for the first time a flash of fear in Clearwater's eyes.

"Before you humiliate yourself any further, I suggest you stop with these childish, petty games and return to running around after Percy Weasley and trying to find a wealthy wizard to torture into marrying you or whatever it is you spend your pitiful existence doing." He finished with a cruel smile, relishing in the look of shock and worry on the woman's face.

However, the fear was short lived apparently, and the witch couldn't help but slip in another jab while she had the time.

"So remind me, with what happened between Draco and Daphne, does that make it two women he's stolen from you without even trying? Or are there some others I don't know about?"

That comment more than any before touched a nerve. Theo felt as though he had been thrown violently back to the evening when Daphne Greengrass, the girl he had been in love with since school, had tentatively told him about a drunken 'mistake' she'd made the previous night with his own best friend. He had tried his best to put the incident behind him, telling himself that Draco hadn't really known his feelings for Daphne, that he had been too drunk and too miserable to think before acting.

But in a way Clearwater was right, this was the second time Malfoy had decided to damage his romantic pursuits – could both occasions just be coincidences? Or was he really as immature and cruel as others perceived him to be? For the longest time Theo had assumed he was beyond the nasty, childish side of Draco Malfoy. That however stupid or reckless he was they would always be best friends and he would always be the exception to the rule. Maybe he had just been naïve.

He felt his shoulders slump ever so slightly as the last of his resolve seemed to melt away and took a minute to think before making his next move.

Penelope's eyes widened in surprise as Nott pulled out his muggle mobile phone from a pocket in his cloak and passed it to her.

"I know you have one of these so put in your contact details." He muttered, refusing to meet her eyes as she excitedly took the small device and began tapping in her phone number. "Only contact me if you have something worth meeting about, I don't want any useless messages or half-baked theories."

The blonde witch grinned in a way which under usual circumstances would be charming and sweet, but Theo felt his stomach turn at the look of joy, knowing the darker and more nefarious meaning behind it.

"You won't be disappointed Theodore. I think bringing down Draco Malfoy once and for all will be beneficial to both of us."

He turned away with a brief nod, trying to ignore the sick feeling of dread that was currently washing over him as he made his way towards the door of the café.

As he stepped outside, the heavens opened. Theodore Nott was reminded of the term pathetic fallacy and wondered if he had made the right decision.

Hermione practically flew towards her bedroom door, slamming it shut and muttering a locking charm as she fumbled about her room for any article of clothing that she could throw over her very naked body.

The few moments of ecstasy and relief of her pent-up sexual tension had not been worth the now earth-shattering panic and anxiety she was experiencing. She tried as hard as she could to avoid looking at the nude form of her co-worker and former enemy who was leaning back against her pillows and watching her with one eyebrow cocked.

"You know Granger, I think we're past the formalities of clothes at this point." He smirked from the bed.

She spun around, hands covering her exposed breasts and a small pair of pyjama shorts (which were on backwards) covering the rest of her body. Even in that moment, the sight of him caused her breath to catch in her throat. He was relaxed, almost off guard. There was still a shimmer of sweat across his brow, and looking at his bare chest was making her think of how firm and powerful he had felt when she was sat on top of him, both hands splayed across his bare skin –

"Mind you don't drool now Hermione."

Her salacious thoughts were interrupted by yet another snide comment from her unexpected lover, shaking Hermione from her confused, amorous reverie.

"You have to go." She instructed, snapping back into action and desperately feeling around for a top, the panic setting in once again as she realised Pansy could be back at any moment.

Draco frowned momentarily but quickly recovered his usual smarmy expression. He felt slightly rejected by her direct tone, and worried for a moment that he had disappointed her. He had no idea what sort of sexual history Hermione Granger had, but she had definitely seemed to be enjoying his touch at the time.

"Alright, any particular reason why?" He asked a little hotly, leaning over the side of her bed and grabbing his discarded boxers, trying not to let his eyes linger too long on her perky breasts as she rushed about the room.

"Don't be a fool Malfoy." She hissed, feeling tears prick the back of her eyes without really knowing why. "This should never have happened, merlin I can't believe this happened."

At this he recoiled, staring at her in disbelief. He wasn't sure what he'd expected her reaction to be after they finally broke the tension and slept together, but it certainly hadn't been one as bad as this.

He felt hurt by her words, and though he wanted to persuade himself it was due to the knock to his ego, a part of him knew it was far deeper than that. She had been all he had thought about for several months now, how to get close to her, annoy her, spend time with her. Now it felt as though his head were in turmoil and all of that effort had been for absolutely nothing.

A part of him was confused and upset by the way she was dismissing him – though logically he knew that she was right, that this probably should never have happened. A larger part of him was not only confused but afraid. He had known for a while that there was attraction between them, that he couldn't get her out of his head. But since they had started working together, he had been able to put that down to sexual tension – he needed to fuck her to get it out of his system and then he could move on.

But he didn't feel satiated. He didn't feel as though the chapter had come to an end. If anything he was even more bewildered than he had been before. There was a sinking feeling in his gut telling him that perhaps Daphne was right, and even worse than that, it was clear that Hermione wanted absolutely nothing to do with him so there would be absolutely no point in allowing that part of him to see the light of day.

"Well it's not like you're my first choice of witch to be bedding either." He retaliated, regretting the words almost as soon as they were out of his mouth but finding himself completely unable to stop them.

To his horror, she didn't fire back. Hermione didn't turn to him, amber eyes blazing and hair crackling about her face like anger itself personified. Instead she sighed and slowly sank to the carpeted floor, pulling an oversized t shirt slowly over her head as she did so.

She looked the picture of defeat in that moment, her shoulders slumped as she played with the ends of her hair anxiously.

"Just go. I don't want to argue with you Draco." She sighed, blinking back tears as she stared at her hands folded in her lap and waited for him to leave. "I can't do this right now."

The blonde sat and watched her, the famous Hermione Granger, more vulnerable than he had ever thought she was capable of being. He wanted nothing more than to help, to ask what he could do – anything apart from just getting up and walking away as though nothing had happened and he didn't care about her at all.

Because he knew that was what she would think as soon as he walked out of the door, but he also knew that Hermione was far too stubborn to listen to anyone right now. Perhaps she didn't even want to speak to him ever again.

So instead of staying and trying to get her to open up or at least tell him if he had done anything wrong, he hastily grabbed hold of his robes and cloak, flinging them on haphazardly before striding towards the door.

Hermione mutely flicked her wrist and undid the locking charm, signalling once again that he had overstayed his welcome.

Draco Malfoy walked towards the fireplace without looking back, feeling his euphoria dissipate like hot air into the winter sky.

He flung the green powder angrily into the hearth, muttering his address as he stepped into the ensuing flames, hoping against all odds they would burn him alive and put him out of his misery.

In the short time it took for him to arrive home and tumble out onto his own living room carpet he could feel the stinging of hot tears in his eyes. He furiously grabbed the closest thing to him, a photo of himself as a young boy riding on his first ever broomstick so that he could reach his father's height in the photo and flung it at the wall.

The shattering of his only last good memory of his late father did nothing to alleviate Draco's rage, and he roared in frustration as he grabbed a mug from a side table and made sure it met the same end.

"How could I have been so stupid?!" He yelled, feeling his voice hitch on the last word as tears began to stream down his cheeks.

This was utterly ridiculous. He had already let her down in so many ways, and now yet again he had left her crying, alone, with not even an apology or attempt to fix the things he had done wrong.

He choked on a sob and flung open the door to his prized liquor cabinet, ignoring the sharp crack as the stained window in it fissured.

Pansy had been right, Theo had been right, worst of all, he had been right all along. There was no way someone like Hermione Granger could ever harbour anything but loathing for him even though he had tried so hard to show her the lighter side of him over the past few weeks.

As he opened a bottle of whiskey that would probably set him back a few hundred galleons and unceremoniously drank it straight whilst sat on the floor, Draco thought miserably of what this foolish escapade had cost him.

Most obviously there was Theo, and it seemed Pansy Blaise and the Greengrasses were hardly on his side either. Then there was his reputation – or what was left of it, in a way in fact that morning's headline had probably done him more good than anything else.

But the biggest loss was of course, her. There would be no more days spent laughing and working in the coffee shop he had showed her, a place he had come to think of as their own. He thought of the way the sunlight danced across her auburn locks, illuminating shifts of red and honey blonde that otherwise were invisible to the naked eye. How when she had a breakthrough, she would hastily whip her unruly hair up into a sloppy bun, often stick a pen or two in it for easy access, and nibble on the end of her pencil in between furious bouts of writing.

As he sat slumped against the wall, the whiskey already a quarter gone, in amongst shards of shattered glass and china, he mourned the time he had wasted avoiding her or making her uncomfortable. Thought about how if he hadn't acted like such a child for so many years, he could have made use of every minute they were near each other, every second.

And now it was all over.

He had only just begun to make sense of what was going on in his head – the fact that he actually liked spending time with Hermione Granger – and now it was like he had been dragged kicking and screaming back to square one. She wanted nothing to do with him – of course she did – but where did that leave him? Would they be able to work together? Would he be able to put all of it behind him? The way she made him laugh, the way just a few minutes before she had been making him feel.

Draco Malfoy closed his eyes and let his head hit the wall with a dull think before absently flicking his wand and closing all of the curtains.

It seemed another weekend of self-loathing was in order.

Come on - you didn't think it was going to be that easy did you ;)

Don't worry, though this is obvs a slow burn we will have some more romance and a little less angst coming up - but I do think angst makes everything more fun!

Anyway, hopefully see you soon, thank you for reading :) xx