AN: Hello all, I'm sorry it's been so long since I have posted anything to this story. It's been crazy between computers dying, kids, moving like 3 times, and then having the worst case of writer's block imaginable. Anyway, I'm back and just about completed this story. I should be posting updates weekly till it's done. Take care, and as always, let me know what you think.

Special Thanks to TabiPrewett for giving this a once over to make sure that its ready to post. You're awesome sweetie!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything pertaining to the HP universe. I don't make any money off of what I write, I just play with the characters for fun.

Chapter 25

Hermione was lying in bed with Severus a few nights later in her flat, when she couldn't stop the words from escaping her mouth. "Do you think there is anything wrong with how I dress?" Her head on his naked shoulder in the darkened room as they still floated from the latest round of sex.

Frowning slightly at the turn of her thoughts, while wondering briefly if he'd said something to make her ask, he spoke. "Why the sudden curiosity?" Figuring those words were the safest until he knew what was going on in her head.

Hermione sighed. "Narcissa wants to me to be her next project after she's done with my flat."

Severus smirked. "I'm assuming she commented on what you wear in order to get you to agree."

Hermione's head lifted, and she looked at him. "Do you think that was all she was doing?"

His smirk grew. "I wouldn't know, I wasn't there. Care to explain why it matters what Cissy thinks of your choice in wardrobe."

Hermione lowered her head again to his shoulder with a sigh. "It doesn't, it's just...it doesn't matter."

Severus' brow rose at that. "Obviously it does, or you wouldn't have mentioned it."

Hermione frowned. "Actually, I don't care what she thinks of how I dress."

Severus frowned, not understanding. If what Cissy thinks doesn't matter, why bring it up? He wondered, but knowing Narcissa Malfoy the way he did, he knew her best skill was subtle manipulation. If it's not what Cissy thinks, then whose opinion is she worried about?

Following that train of thought, he crossed out different ones as he went. She doesn't care about Potter, she'd have changed what she wore long before now if that was the case. None of the Weasleys would matter much either, especially since I've seen them wear jeans as well. That either leaves Draco, but she always called him a snob over his primping, or...

Both of his brows rising even more, he spoke again. "Do you think I care?"

Hermione fought a cringe at that, feeling very stupid now. "I said it doesn't matter, and it doesn't."

Noticing that she didn't confirm or deny his question, he bit back a sigh. Bloody brilliant, Cissy. Touch on the person she's sleeping with to get what you want. I'm not sure if you should be applauded or strangled this time, he thought. "It shouldn't, considering the only thing I care about you wearing is nothing at all."

Hermione wasn't sure how to take that. It could either mean that whether she was wearing silk or rags, he'd give it the same notice before removing it. Or it could mean that he did hate her clothes and couldn't wait to get the hideous things off of her.

At her silence, he figured she was overthinking it like she did everything else. Biting back another sigh of annoyance at the blonde woman that apparently started this, he decided to explain a bit more. "As long as I can have you naked and wrapped around me, I couldn't care less what ends up on the floor as I strip you."

Which must have been the right thing for him to say, because she lifted her head, shifting a bit until she was leaning over him. A smile on her lips, she leaned down and kissed him.

Definitely the right thing to say, he thought later as her mouth skated down his bare chest, tracing over his belly, and headed for a part of him that always welcomed attention from her.

It was during breakfast the following morning, that she went over her figures with him that she'd come up with for the shop. The print out in his hand as he went over each item listed, making sure she didn't leave anything out, and saw that her total was correct. After mentally doing the math in his own head to ensure that her faith in the infernal machine wasn't going to be their downfall.

Now they had an accurate number to work with, though Hermione suggested a bit of padding just in case they were off at all on their figures, or if something came up they didn't foresee. Their figure also included their cost of living for the next two years, just in case they weren't seeing much by way of profits yet.

The number re-added up, they each knew how much was coming from either investor. She knew that within a few days at most after mentioning it, Harry would have the funds transferred to her, she just didn't know how quickly the Malfoys would have their part settled.

With a flick of her wand when they were finished eating, the dishes set themselves to washing. Though she rarely did it that way, she preferred using muggle cleaning methods. Moving into her room to dress, she pulled out a pencil skirt and slipped it on. She didn't feel the need to dress up for Harry, but she wanted this to be somewhat professional.

Already, she had her loan contract ready for him, not that he'd ask for one. All she had to do was have him agree to sign it for his protection, not hers. Not that he needed any from her.

Debating over which blouse to wear, she felt Severus move in behind her. At the first touch of his lips on her bare shoulder, she leaned back into him, the fluttering coming back once again, and once again she pawned it off as lust.

"Mmm...I wish I had time for more than a few kisses." She said as he trailed a line of them up her neck as his hand moved around to caress her breast through her bra.

He chuckled softly. "It's too bad you don't. You look delicious without a shirt on."

She turned and moved to her toes to kiss him fully, not letting it get heated, though she knew it wouldn't take much to let it do so. "I shouldn't be gone all that long, but I've a feeling Narcissa will already be here by the time I get back. Are you going to come back here later tonight?"

"I will, though I've something to show you this evening." He said as he eased back from her.

She turned back to her closet and pulled out one of her silky button up blouses. "Oh? What do you want to show me?"

He smirked. "You'll see later. I should go." He gave her a searing kiss, one that left her a bit breathless, and then, he was gone with a soft crack of apparation.

"Bloody hell." She mumbled, her shirt barely hanging by her limp fingers as the fluttering increased a small bit inside her, though again, she ignored it, assuming it was simply lust.

She arrived via floo at Grimmauld Place, her papers tucked away inside her bag. Not seeing anyone, she wandered towards the kitchen. Pushing open the door, she found Harry sitting at the kitchen table with Ron, both having just finished breakfast.

"Hey, Mione." Harry said before taking another sip of coffee.

Hermione glanced at Ron before she looked back at Harry. "Hello. Is this a bad time?"

Harry shook his head. "No, take a seat. Want some coffee?"

Hermione glanced at Ron again, who for once in his life took a hint and stood up. "I think I'll go see mum at the Burrow." He said, though his face looked a bit strained. As if knowing she didn't want to be around him, actually bothered him.

Harry watched Ron go, and as soon as the door closed behind him, he sighed. "Mione, one of these days you're going to have to forgive him."

Hermione's eyes sparked. "Forgive him? He lied to me and used me."

Harry nodded. "I know, but I know he feels terrible about it too. If you can forgive Malfoy for being such a prick during all those years before the end of the war, or forgive Snape for being a rotten bastard to you, how can you not forgive your friend? A friend, who has been in your life for so many years. Yes, he was a prat in what he did. Yes, he cocked things up nicely with what he did. But...you can't throw away eight years of good, over one thing that was bad."

Hermione's lips tightened, but Harry went on. "I'm not going to pressure you into forgiving him, or talk you to death to get you to do it either, but...just think it about it, okay?"

Hermione nodded, and Harry decided to move away from the topic of Ron. "So, what brings you by today?"

Hermione sighed and went about telling Harry about what all she had come up with for the shop. Explaining the location choice, the products they would be carrying and costs of supplies for them, everything.

Two hours later, Harry, eyes long past glazed over at her detailed speech, finally held up a hand to stop her. "Bloody hell, Mione, I don't need an account of every sickle and knut you're going to need. I just need a total, so I can have it transferred to your account at Gringotts. I trust you and I know you'll make good use of whatever I give you."

"Loan me." She corrected, she refused to let Harry just give it to her still.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Whatever. My point is, just tell me a number to give the goblins at the bank, and please...please, don't tell me anymore about ingredients and what you need them for." It was worse than sitting in Potion's class. Too much information all at once and he couldn't remember half of what she'd just said anyway.

It took another hour to convince him to sign the agreement saying she had to pay the money back at all, then another hour to argue her point about him getting some kind of interest paid back to him as well.

She knew she had lost that argument when Harry finally told her, quite annoyed at this point, that if she wanted to be treated like she was getting money from a bank, then for her to go to a bloody bank and leave him be. He didn't want to help her just to gain something in return.

Conceding in the end, she watched him sign the agreement saying she had to pay the money back, but only after she started making a profit. He also added in the clauses that she was not allowed to pay him any additional money other than the original note, and that she could not charge him less when he shopped in her store for any products he purchased.

Hermione smirked at that one. She probably would have tried to charge him less or not at all in some cases simply because she felt indebted to him for her opening the shop with his money at all.

They spent a bit catching up after all of that was done, another two hours passed with them talking. Sometime in the middle of those two hours Harry got up and made them a couple of thick sandwiches for lunch, all the while she was listening as he told her how his relationship with Ginny was progressing. Harry mentioning too how Ron had moved in, but that was the only time his name was mentioned at all.

Hitting the six and half hour mark since her arrival, she heard the distinct sound of the floo. It didn't take long before Ron came into the kitchen again. When he spotted her sitting there, he paused, "Oh, I...I didn't think you'd still be here. I...I'll just go." Ron said.

Hermione sighed. "No, Ron you stay, I've got to be going anyway."

When she stood, she gave Harry a hug and he whispered the words 'think about what I said' before he let her go. She nodded and when she faced Ron again, she saw his hands shoved into his pockets, and she gave him a stiff goodbye, before she flooed down to Diagon Alley.

She didn't spend much time there, though she did take a moment to pop into Flourish and Blotts. Perusing the shelves since it had been a while since she'd done so. She'd not really had time as of late, and as she wandered the shelves her thoughts ended up on Harry's words.

She didn't purchase anything and before long, she apparated back home. Arriving in her flat, she saw Narcissa directing the elves again and realized that with her thoughts, she'd forgotten about the woman possibly being there.

She said a distracted hello, and not being in the mood for company, she went out to sit on her balcony. Letting her thoughts wander still over Harry's words to her about Ron.

It was true, they had been friends for a long time, but what he'd done was very horrible. A real friend wouldn't have ever considered doing what he did so carelessly.

It wasn't long before the balcony door opened and Narcissa stepped outside. She looked about the iron railed area and sighed. "It looks like I'll have to take this spot into account for the décor too. Just because its outside doesn't mean it can't be comfortable and look pleasing to the eye."

Hermione barely gave her a smile, though she didn't say anything. Narcissa took a seat, studying the young woman in front of her. "You look like you have much on your mind, my dear. Did your friend not take care of his part of the loan you were hoping to procure?"

Hermione looked over at her. "Hmm? Oh no, he did. Everything should be transferred and available to me in a few days."

Narcissa's brow wrinkled slightly. "Then, why do you look so forlorn?"

Hermione shrugged. "Just contemplating a few things. Mainly...people in my life."

Narcissa nodded. "This is about Severus. It was bound to come up eventually with you two."

Hermione frowned in confusion. "What? No, I...wait, what was bound to come up?"

Narcissa instantly realized her error and quickly changed what she'd been about to say. "I figured that you two were having differing thoughts about your business venture. He is rather set in his ways when it comes to potions and how to make them. I've been waiting for you two to start butting heads about it is all."

Hermione shook her head. "No, this is personal and not about Severus at all. Just..." She sighed, running her hand through her hair in annoyance. "Just something Harry mentioned is all."

Narcissa didn't need Hermione to tell her that she didn't want to talk about it. At least not with her, though she didn't take offense in that at all. They were friendly these days, but nowhere near friends. Not in the way for her to share what was bothering her at least.

"I'll leave you to your thoughts then." The blonde woman said, standing up and leaving Hermione to think on her own.

When half an hour had passed and still Hermione hadn't budge from her spot outside, Narcissa decided to call in someone who she thought Hermione would talk to. Or at least someone that could force Hermione to talk to him.

Opening the floo connection, she stepped through and went in search of who she was looking for. Ten minutes later, she and Draco both stepped back out of the fireplace. Narcissa pointed towards the balcony and went back to her decorating.

Draco opened the balcony door and stepped outside. Hermione frowned when she spotted him. "What are you doing here?" She asked.

Draco shrugged. "Mother thought you could use an ear to bend. So, what's going on with you, Granger? Why have you been sitting out here alone for over an hour?"

Hermione sighed. "Will it do me any good to tell you that I don't want to talk about it?"

Draco smirked. "No. You can tell me willingly, or I can sit here for however long it takes for you to finally speak, knowing my presence is annoying you, and I'll make sure that it will. Or I can just hex the hell out of you until you tell me what bug crawled up your arse this time."

Hermione scowled. "You hex me, and I'll take your wand and shove it so far up your arse it'll take a deep excavation team to find and remove it again."

Draco cocked his head at her. "You seem to have some kind of weird fetish about wanting to put things in my arse, don't you? I know I've got a nice arse, but really, I don't have any desire to have it probed by anything, if you don't mind."

Hermione snorted and rolled her eyes. "No, I've do not have any weird arse fetishes, nor do I want to do anything in particular to your arse. However, my point was that if you try to hex me, I'll make sure you regret it."

Draco smirked at her and inclines his head. "Fair enough. Now spill it, what has you sitting out here?"

Hermione sighed again. "Harry said something today...about Ron."

Draco folded his arms over his chest. "What's that wanker done now?"

Hermione wasn't sure if he was referring to Harry or Ron, but moved on without asking. "He said that I couldn't stay angry at Ron forever. That we've been friends too long to let one bad thing, ruin all the good things that Ron's done as my friend."

Draco scoffed. "That one bad thing wasn't exactly minor either. Besides, what's Weasley ever really done for you? Something that didn't have a personal gain for him in it as well."

Hermione thought about that. "He saved me in the girl's loo during our first year when the mountain troll got inside. Harry and Ron both came and saved me by taking on the troll to keep it from killing me. He didn't gain anything by that."

Draco rolled his eyes. "So, he saved you from the loo that his cruel words sent you to it in the first place, and it gained him your friendship."

Hermione scowled. "Yes, he sent me there in tears because he was being cruel, but he still came to save me. He didn't know it would gain him my friendship, nor did he know how much that friendship would help in the following years."

Draco waved that way. "Fine, what else. Although he didn't do it alone, so I don't think that really counts."

Hermione went back to thinking. "He defended me against you in our second year. It didn't gain him anything but vomiting slugs for hours with the spell backfiring."

Draco shook his head. "Lame. Move on."

Hermione scowled again. "It's not lame. Fine, he...stayed by my side the entire time during our second year and helped Harry figure out how to get me un-petrified."

"No, he didn't. He didn't un-petrify you, Snape made the potion to un-petrify you. The redheaded git may have been by your side, but not the whole time. It doesn't count, so what else has he done?" Draco said.

Hermione's scowl deepened. "It does still count. He didn't gain anything by staying there and he didn't have to. While yes, Severus was the one to actually make the potion, Ron didn't leave me alone either."

Draco waved his hand dismissively again. "What else? Or is that it?"

Hermione sat back, annoyed at Draco's easy dismissal. "He got hurt helping us out in third year with...you'll just call that lame too. Let's see...he...you know what, he has done a lot for me."

Draco's brow rose. "Then, tell me something he did, if he did so much for you."

Hermione's arms crossed much like his. "You keep calling it lame when I do, just because you don't see it being a big deal to you, but all of it adds up. Every lame thing over the years adds up to make it a big thing. All of it is why he's my friend."

She stood up, her hands on her hips as her eyes burned in anger at him. "You want to know what he did for me? When I was being tortured at your house, he and Harry got free and he saw what your aunt was doing to me and came running to my rescue. Was it a stupid move to just go barging in like that? Probably, but Ron didn't think about himself. He was thinking about the fact that I was screaming in agony and that he wanted to stop it. That he cared enough about me to risk being hexed or killed just to save me from any more pain. That is what Ron has done for me."

Draco held up both hands at her. "Fine. Then, that is what he's done for you. But tell me this, Granger..."

Hermione glared at him. "What?" She all but snarled.

"How long were you sitting out here on your own, confused as hell by the looks of it when I got out here? Now, how long did it take you to come to your own conclusion with me only egging you on, before you were defending him once again?" He asked her, hands still raised.

Her look of anger faltered. "What?" She asked softly.

Draco smirked at her. "I don't care if you want to let Weasley be your friend again or not. Well, I do, but that's just because I think he's a worthless prat. However, if you are willing to forgive him, that part is up to you and only you. All I did was pick at you enough to make you stop straddling the fence and make a damn decision on whether or not he was enough of a friend once to forgive him or not."

Hermione stared at him in silence for several moments, before she crossed her arms again. "You're a manipulative arse, you know that, right?"

Draco chuckled. "I know." His smirk grew, and even though he knew his next words would end up with him getting hexed over, it was still going to be worth it. "It's why you want to shag me."

Hermione's eyes widened, and then narrowed as her lip curled into a snarl, utterly sick of that joke. Draco laughed and bolted for the balcony door before she could even move. She took off after him, her wand already being pulled, and before she could hex him, several things happened. Severus arrived with a pop by her front door and saw Hermione chasing Draco; Draco spotted his godfather mere moments before he grabbed a handful of floo powder, and the blond made his escape a split second before Hermione's hex hit the now empty fireplace.

"Should I bother asking?" Severus asked as his brow went up.

Narcissa had a similar look on her face. "All I know is that they were talking, she looked ready to strangle him after a while, but whatever he said calmed her. I thought it was over, but then suddenly, they came running in here like little demons with her looking like she wanted to skin him alive."

Severus took all of that in, even as Hermione continued glaring at the empty fireplace. "Dare I ask?" He asked her.

Hermione turned finally to look at him. "He's an arse, and I'm going to murder him one day."

Narcissa startled chuckling. "You wouldn't be the first to say so, what did he do this time?"

Hermione sighed. "Before being an arse...he did help me figure things out, but...he's still an arse."

Severus sighed. "If your purpose is to be as vague as possible, then you've succeeded. Care to explain so the rest of us can understand, or shall I just let you go murder the little twit and save us all future headaches?"

Hermione couldn't help the laugh that escaped her. "I'm sorry. I went to Harry's today and Ron was there and..."

Severus held up his hand. "What was Weasley doing there?"

Hermione sighed. "He lives there now apparently. Anyway, he left after I got there but Harry...Harry said that I couldn't stay mad at Ron forever and that I would have to forgive him eventually."

Severus' brow rose. "Potter is an idiot. Why should you forgive him with what he did to you?"

Hermione smirked. "My thoughts exactly, but Harry pointed out that while, yes, Ron was a prat in doing what he did...we were friends for a long time and there's been more good than bad in our friendship. So basically, it came down to this. Was the one bad thing enough to override all the good?"

Severus sighed again, moving father into the room finally. When Hermione took a seat on her sofa, he went over to join her. "Personally, I think he deserves to have you angry at him still, but...I can't make you do that."

Hermione frowned. "You can't?"

Severus shrugged. "Do not misunderstand me, I would like to tell you not to forgive him, but...you're not exactly one to hold a grudge. Knowing that...it's inevitable that you will eventually. You are who you are, after all." That last part came out in a slightly annoyed sigh.

Hermione frowned more. He's taking me as I am. He understands me and accepts it once again. When the hell did Severus become understanding of anyone or anything?

Narcissa decided to speak up. "What exactly did Draco do?"

Hermione turned her head to look at her. "After asking what Ron had ever done for me to even think of forgiving him, he kept picking at me, telling me what I'd said was lame, until I had enough and started barking at him about how it didn't matter what he thought. Then, proceeded to tell him the biggest thing Ron had ever done for me. That he'd...saved me without any thought to himself, even though it could have gotten him killed."

Severus frowned. "When exactly did he do that?"

Narcissa saw Hermione hesitate, saw the young woman glance at her before looking away again and knew the answer to that. "In my home. When Bella...when my sister was torturing her." She said quietly.

Hermione swallowed and nodded. "Yes. He came in there to rescue me and didn't once stop to think about what could happen to himself. How can I let something trivial like...dating and cheating be more important than him risking his life to save mine?"

Severus' jaw clenched slightly. The tone in her voice, the look on her face, all of it said she already had forgiven the redhead. He couldn't help but wonder what that would mean now for them.

Hermione looked back at Severus. "Knowing all the times you saved us, and knowing all the good you did while sacrificing and taking so much pain from that monster...it's how I was able to forgive and move on from all that you'd ever done to me. How can I not do the same for Ron?"

Severus didn't have an answer to that, with all that he knew of Hermione's and Weasley's past, on top of what she just said...he didn't have a single argument to give her. Though, it annoyed the hell out of him that he didn't.

Sensing Severus was at a loss on how to respond, Narcissa spoke up instead. "I suppose you can't do anything but forgive him, my dear. Though...I'm sure you already knew that. I think I'll take my leave for today, the elves could use the break." She said softly, figuring they'd want to be alone after all of that.

After she was gone, Hermione looked to Severus again. "Are you alright with that? With me forgiving him and being his friend again?"

Severus wanted so much to tell her that, yes, he did mind. That Weasley was an idiot and didn't deserve her, any part of her, which was all true, but, he couldn't. It wasn't his place to say who could or couldn't be in her life. Sure, they were in a relationship of sorts...but he didn't have any say in her life.

Finally, he gave a mild shrug. "If that is what you want to do, I won't stand in your way."

Hermione frowned. "That really isn't what I was asking. I was asking if you would be alright with it, not if you'd stop me."

He studied her for a moment. "Does it really matter?"

Her frown grew. "Of course, it does. I've always respected your thoughts and opinions. If you were not alright with it, I'd want to know why, but yes, it would matter. Why would you think it wouldn't matter?"

He could have answered that so many different ways. However, it would cause them to delve deeper into the logistics of their already complicated relationship and he wasn't ready for that discussion. Not when he was still sorting through his own thoughts on it.

Instead, he went with the easy answer. "I only meant that it is your friendship with him and only you can decide if he is truly worthy of it. Whether I believe he deserves it or not, isn't relevant. He isn't my friend, nor will he ever be. However, he was once yours, and only you can decide if you want him as one again. If he is worthy of a place inside you that would put him in a position to potentially hurt you again. The question is, do you believe him repentant enough to not do something foolish again that would cause you further pain?"

Hermione looked away, pondering that. "I suppose it would be smarter to think on it more before making any decisions."

Severus already knew her answer pertaining to Weasley, no matter how much more she thought about it. He kept his silence over it though. He'd purposely posed his question to get her focus off of him and what she'd asked him. Cissy isn't the only one capable of subtle manipulation, he thought to himself.

A/N: More to come. Let me know what you thought. Take care.