Chapter 28: Draco

Three hours earlier:

"What did you do to her?" Potter advanced towards me with his jaw clenched in anger. Ginny had just disapparated with a distraught Granger clinging to her arm, Luna following them a moment later.

"I didn't do a fucking thing, Potter," I retorted, squaring my shoulders. "Funnily enough, I'm actually not the sole source of the world's misery."

"Why was she so bloody upset then? Hermione was perfectly fine when I left the table." Potter was standing nose to nose with me. We had attracted the attention of the burly security guard positioned outside the club door, who grunted in irritation and took a step towards us. Pansy tossed her hair over her shoulder and sashayed over to intercept the security guard. While she proceeded to charm him silly, I turned back to Potter.

"I honestly don't know what happened. We were talking about McLaggen, and she had just thanked me for looking out for her. Next thing she's left the table like her arse was on fire. That was it."

The muscles in Potter's jaw rolled. "Right. Well, I should get over to her place. See if she really is okay."

Pansy rolled her eyes from where she had come to stand beside Blaise, her distraction tactics succeeding in sending the security guard back to his post. "No, I'll go. I think the presence of anyone with a penis would only be counter-productive."

Theo grinned irreverently. "Pansy Parkinson, my beautiful tyrant, fiend angelical. You know perfectly well that you have one of your own."

"I grow one at will, and next time I do, I'll ask you to suck it, Theodore," came Pansy's acerbic reply, which prompted a hearty laugh from Blaise.

"Jesus Christ, Parkinson. Just go and see Hermione, please!" Potter cried, grabbing Theo's collar and shoving him out the door. Pansy winked and followed them, twin cracks of apparition signalling their departures. Blaise glanced at me.

"Come on, you miserable twat. We're going to your place, which, I might point out, I have never been invited to," he said, clapping an enormous hand on my shoulder.

"I'm fine, Blaise. You don't need to babysit me."

"I know I don't. You're babysitting me. My missus just took off and left me with you cocks, remember? And yes, that includes Pansy."

Blaise's phone chimed with a message from Luna to say she'd returned home, and he practically dive-bombed into the Floo with a rushed farewell. Once alone, I took the chance to think. It had been hard to keep an emotional distance from Granger earlier, but I needed to for my sanity. I'd even resorted to occlumency tactics. I had fallen in love with Granger. The night we ended it, she said she'd felt something for me which had given me hope that we'd come back together. But the speed of which she'd moved on with her series of dates seemed a reliable indication that whatever she'd felt for me, it wasn't love.

I didn't know what I had said or done to make Granger bolt tonight. My first instinct had been to go after her, but my self-preservation had kicked in, and I'd stayed put. She doesn't love you, my head told me. But something about that statement didn't feel right, like a niggling finger pressing between my ribs that I couldn't ignore. Granger's eyes could never lie. They held a world of unspoken truths. There was a rueful sadness in them tonight, and the look she gave me before leaving with Ginny was giving me pause.

I stood up and paced around my living room. I'd been unsatisfied in my relationships, even before I'd gotten involved with Granger. Bringing Astoria tonight had been a disaster almost from the outset. Shallow and superficial. My relationship with Granger had been short-lived, but it had been the most significant relationship of my lifetime. I felt a sudden burst of irritation. I didn't want shallow and superficial anymore. I wanted a meaningful relationship with the woman who made me a better man. Fuck it. I wanted Granger.

What had I said to her the day she'd arrived in my office? I'm not in the business of letting other people make decisions for me. It had been true ever since my father had allowed Voldemort to threaten my family. I didn't know if Granger wanted me anymore, but I'd be damned if I was going to die wondering. With a determination I hadn't felt in a while, I tossed the rest of my drink back and set the crystal tumbler on the coffee table. I snatched up my wand and pocketed it when came a sudden blaze of green from the fireplace.

Granger.

It took a moment for my brain to assimilate what I was seeing. She was here. Her mouth opened and closed several times, ostensibly trying to find something profound to say.

"Hey," is what she settled on.

"Please ease up on the sentiments, Granger. You're coming on too strong, and I'm feeling overwhelmed."

Her response was a girlish, breathy laugh that made me realise how much I'd missed her. "I didn't rehearse this. I made up my mind that I had to see you about seven and a half seconds before I got here."

It was then that I registered what she was wearing – leopard print satin shorts and a white tank top. And fuck all else. "Did you just make a mad dash from your bed to the Floo?"

She exhaled and closed her eyes. "I realised something tonight," she began, her eyes fluttering open. "You were right. I was a fucking idiot."

That was unexpected.

"I thought that I'd be okay with seeing you tonight," she continued. "For months now, I've been trying to convince myself that I could move on, and I've been driving the girls mad over the last few months with it, and probably Harry and Theo as well -"

"If you're driving Theo mad, I couldn't be happier, it serves him right, and I urge you to continue."

"Please, just let me get this out." Granger held up a hand. "I love my career, and I'm proud of it. But it's all I have, and it's not enough for me anymore. I want someone to share my life with. But it's also not enough just to have someone to come home to. I want someone who will push me and challenge me always to be better than I was because he knows it's what drives me. I want someone who'll whole-heartedly celebrate my successes with me because he knows that it doesn't overshadow his accomplishments. I want passion and excitement and spontaneity, and I want someone who will let me take the time to learn everything about him. His heart, his mind, his body and his soul."

Granger swallowed and took a tiny step forward.

"I want to care about someone who cares about me. I want to know his beliefs, his concerns, his thoughts. Maybe we would take our thoughts and use them to change the world into something amazing together. Or maybe we would just be amazing privately." A deep breath in. "I've missed you. I could never have imagined I would want you like this. I am completely in love with you, Draco."

"You're what now?" I stammered. My mouth was suddenly dry, and my heart was pounding.

"I'm in love with you," she repeated earnestly, her eyes fixed on me. Her chest rose and fell with breaths that seemed to quicken with every second that I failed to respond. Too many seconds later, Granger blinked rapidly, her face flushing and her hands wrung together. "Anyway, it's okay if you don't feel the same. I get it. I'm probably being foolish but -"

Before she could finish her sentence, I closed the distance between us and had her lips pressed hard against mine, my hands gripping the sides of her beautiful face to hold her to me. A strangled cry of relief escaped from her mouth, and her cool hands wrapped around my wrists.

"I love you, Granger," I whispered, breaking off the kiss momentarily. "I know I'm not the guy you thought you would want in your life, but I promise you, I will love you the best." I bent my forehead to hers. "We aren't going to get this right all the time. I will piss you off sometimes. Sometimes you'll get on my nerves, and I'll want to hate-fuck you into the mattress. I'll worship you for your mind, but I'll challenge the way you think every step of the way. That is us, and it's what brought us together, and I wouldn't give that up for the world because it's real, and it's honest. But you will also know every single day how much I love you, and I'll never stop trying to be the best man I can be for you."

Granger didn't respond with words. Instead, she kissed me intensely.

"I thought I'd lost you for good," she breathed against my mouth. Her hands dove into my hair, and I relished in the feeling of her nails scratching at my scalp. Letting her hands drop, she began to pull at the bottom of my shirt, tugging it up and over my head.

"Granger -" I murmured against her mouth. "- are you sure you don't want to ease back into this?"

She pulled away briefly, her eyes blazing. "Malfoy, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I'm going to need you just to shut up and put your dick in me."

I laughed, relieved to see her intrinsic fire roaring back to life, and gathered my witch up into my arms, her legs wrapping tightly around my waist. Carrying her through the apartment to my bedroom, I slipped the strap of her tank top off her shoulder and sucked a kiss into her creamy skin. Her strong legs squeezed me. I lowered her onto my bed and carefully settled myself between her legs. I paused to look at her, running my thumb across her petal-soft lips, trying to convince myself that she was really here.

"What's wrong?" Granger asked, her brow furrowing with concern.

"Aside from you wearing too many clothes, absolutely nothing is wrong," I answered, earning me a smack on the shoulder. I growled in response and kissed her deeply once again. Her hands roamed over my chest and shoulders as I dotted tiny kisses down her jaw to her neck. I tugged her tank top over her head and pushed her breasts together, laving one nipple while gently rolling the other between my thumb and forefinger. Her soft whimpers urged me on, her hips moving against me as she searched desperately for friction. I trailed my fingers down her torso, feeling the muscles in her stomach flex as my hand travelled lower. I brushed over her most sensitive area and was rewarded with her moan when I slipped a finger inside her. She was warm, tight and ready for me. I eased a second finger inside her, bringing my lips back to hers. Her tongue danced against mine, whimpering softly into my mouth. I slowly withdrew my fingers and shifted to slide her satin shorts down her legs. After dropping them to the floor, I laid on my back and pulled her on top of me. Sitting up with her legs straddling my thighs, Granger tugged my jeans and underwear over my hips. She stroked her hand up and down my cock while I kicked my jeans off, clumsy in my haste. I held her by the waist as she bit her lip and lowered herself on to my cock. The feeling was indescribable, and I had to hold her still and recount last quarter's budget figures to keep from instantly exploding inside her and embarrassing myself. When I had regained some control, I sat up and brought her face close to mine. Kissing her tenderly, I curled my hips and pushed up into her. She answered with a swivel of her hips, and I was lost. Granger's hands snaked into my hair once again while my hands traversed her creamy skin and sensual curves.

With each rotation of her hips, interspersed with moans and filthy words of encouragement, the world became smaller and smaller until it was reduced to nothing but the feel of her skin against mine and the soft air of her moans against my neck. Her skin glowed in the lamplight, and I felt the tips of her hair tickle my thighs when she tipped her head back in pleasure. Her movements became deeper and wilder, and her fingers were tight in my hair.

"More," she pleaded, wrapping her legs around my waist. I rolled her onto her back and pushed into her once again; my forehead bent to hers. Her nails dug into my back, and I hissed, telling her yes and it's so good. Her eyes clenched shut, and I felt her body wound tight beneath me, coiled for release.

"Let it go, Granger." I continued to thrust into her, again and again. Her back arched and her moans grew ragged and more desperate. "I want to feel you come apart." Reaching down between us, Granger's fingers found her clit, and she circled it slowly. I tilted my head to look down at her hand. "Fuck, you look so good when you touch yourself, Granger."

With that, her orgasm overtook her. Her body spasmed below me, and her hoarse scream echoed throughout my bedroom. I watched in awe as a beautiful flush spread across her cheeks and chest. As Granger surrendered to the aftershocks of her orgasm, she finally opened her eyes to look at me.

"I love you," she whispered, and fuck if it didn't undo me. My climax barrelled down my spine, and I came loudly, shuddering as I muffled my cries into her neck.

"I love you." I collapsed in a heap on top of her with an exhausted sigh, and Granger giggled. She traced tiny patterns up and down my back, and I could feel her heartbeat under my cheek. We lay in comfortable silence, her heartbeat almost back to its normal pace when Granger cleared her throat.

"Should we talk now, or can we cut the bullshit and just assume that I am now your girlfriend and that you're going to adore me forever?"

I lifted my head to look at her. "'Adore' may be premature. I'm reserving judgement until I know for sure that you're handy in the kitchen." Resounding slap. "Violence is never the answer, you know."

"Neither is blatant chauvinism while I'm naked and in your bed!"

"But I make sexism look good." Another resounding slap. "Stop slapping me, you cow."

Granger pushed me off her and flipped me onto my back, straddling me once again. Before I could make another move, she grabbed my wand off the bedside table.

"Incarcerous!" With my hands suddenly pinned to the headboard, Granger twisted my nipple. Hard. "Take it back," she demanded, but her mouth was twitching with a smile she was trying to hide.

"Not until you promise to use your words!" I yelped. She twisted harder. "Okay, I take it back!"

"And?" she prompted, her eyebrow arched and a full-blown grin on her face.

"I don't care if you're good in the kitchen!"

"That part, but what else?" This time, she reached for my other nipple and twisted it too. "Malfoy? Are you going to adore me forever or not?"

"I already do! Now for the love of fuck, let go!"

"Good boy," she crooned and released her iron grip on my nipples. While I lay there whining like a Labrador puppy, my hands still pinioned to my headboard, Granger tilted her head and eyed me contemplatively. "This has potential," she said, gesturing to my tied hands while grinning salaciously.

"You could enjoy yourself less, you know," I replied. I strained to look down at my chest. My nipples were already a fetching shade of violet. "They're bloody purple, you maniac! And is that – is that a handprint?"

"Ooh, is your father going to hear about this?" she taunted. "You know, if you leave the bruises to heal on their own, in a few days, they'll be a lovely Slytherin green." She cackled as I fixed her with a glare, and she released the invisible binds around my wrists. I rubbed at them absently as Granger leaned down to claim my mouth, the pain of my tortured nipples instantly forgotten. Her hair fell around me like a sweetly-scented curtain, and I tangled my fingers through her curls. Granger eventually slid her body to lay beside me, lamentably dragging the sheet up over her naked arse and propping up on her elbows.

"We should talk now," she said. "I'm not sure where to start."

"You said earlier that you thought you'd lost me for good," I prompted.

"Well, yeah," Granger replied. "As crazy as this sounds, since the day I walked into your office, I felt like we had chemistry. Like there was a pull between us. I think it's what had confused me the most. We hated each other at school, so how could it suddenly turn into something different after a few years?"

I had thought a lot about this since we met at my office that day and hadn't come up with any practical conclusion aside from this: maybe the universe had always intended for us to be together. Bullying Granger wasn't to distract from some misplaced affection towards her – I genuinely fucking resented her - but maybe it was her presence in my life that started me on my path towards forgiveness and redemption. Muggle-borns were supposed to be inferior, so how come she was as good as me, if not better, at magic? Perhaps it was my bullying that pushed Granger to work as hard as she did – she wanted to be better than me and prove me wrong.

Granger's eyes grew wider and wider as I relayed my theory, and at the end, she fixed me with a ball-shrivelling glare. I felt a sudden compulsion to protect my crotch.

"Draco Malfoy, you abhorrent little toadstool, are you suggesting that the only reason I was able to take twelve classes in the Third year, achieve ten OWLs in Fifth year, hunt horcruxes and help Harry take down Voldemort, then return for my Seventh year and achieve seven NEWTs, go on to graduate law school first class, then become the first female Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and the youngest Ministry Department head in history, was because of your appalling and unmerited blood prejudices and mistreatment?"

"I may have thought that at the beginning and honestly, it sounded better in my head. I see now how very wrong I was, and I'll ask you not to punch me again!" I cried, holding up a pillow to protect myself from the Granger monster that launched itself at me. I wrapped my arms tightly around her and twisted so she was flat on her back on the mattress before she could land any blows. Granger was still protesting when I crushed my mouth to hers, but she soon stopped resisting, a giggle erupting from her lips instead. When I felt her fully relax underneath me and respond to my kiss, I released my firm hold around her. "I didn't mean to undermine your achievements, Granger. You're amazing, you always have been, and it has nothing at all to do with me. I'm sorry."

She pushed lightly against my chest, and I eased off her. "You weren't totally wrong. It hurt when you called me mu - that word, and I did want to show you, and everyone who thought like you, that you were wrong. But I've always been a highly motivated individual, even before I met you. I work hard because I enjoy the feeling of achievement and success." She grinned. "Sticking it up to the likes of you was the icing on the cake, really." She leaned up to press a kiss to the tip of my nose then wriggled suggestively. "You should stick it up to the likes of me now."

"Oh, you asked for it, woman."

The nights that followed were a blur as Granger and I wasted no time in making up for the months we were apart. During the day, I was back to my best at the office – I signed an incredibly lucrative business deal and earned significant returns on another. I felt the best that I had in a long time.

Theo stopped by my office on Friday afternoon as I was packing up my desk for the weekend. "I heard the good news. You got the Huang deal over the line."

"Yeah. Once they understood the terms, they were fine. Done and dusted," I replied. "How'd your meeting go today?"

"Seems solid," he answered with a shrug. "I told them we'd catch up late next week."

"Nice, man." I closed the lid of my laptop and smiled. With a tilt of his head, Theo narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"You know, you've become almost likeable since you got back together with Granger."

"And?"

He smirked. "And nothing. I'm happy for you, Draco. She's a good girl."

"Yeah, she is," I agreed. "She's too good for me."

"Now that we can both agree on."

We chatted for a while longer and made plans to catch up the following morning for a round of golf. When Theo left my office, I crossed the room and entered the Floo. I arrived back into my living room to see Granger wearing one of my white business shirts and an alluring smile on her lips. She held out a glass of red wine to me.

I swallowed and took a step towards her, accepting the glass from her outstretched hand. "Granger? What are you wearing under that shirt?"

"Nothing but the Holy Ghost."

And with that, I took my limited knowledge of religion and dedicated the remainder of the evening to worshipping Hermione Granger's skin and delivering her to rapture.

"Fore right!"

I was still two shots behind Theo on the last hole, and the golf gods were not on my side as my ball landed in the sand trap. I released another frustration yell into the air when a deep, throaty voice boomed from behind us.

"Keep your elbow tucked on your backswing, and watch your grip," Shacklebolt advised, strolling up the fairway towards us.

I laughed amiably. "Where were you 18 holes ago?" We observed in silence as Theo lined up his shot. The ball arced gracefully through the air, landing with a faint thud on the distant green, and Theo turned to us with a smug grin. Shacklebolt raised his eyebrows approvingly.

"I'd like to chalk Theo's skills up to enchanted golf clubs, but in actuality, he's just really bloody good at golf," I said to Shacklebolt.

"What can I say? I'm good with a stick," Theo called, holding up the club with both hands. "See how my hands fit perfectly around the shaft?"

Shacklebolt regarded me questioningly, and I shook my head. "It's better for the purity of your mind if you don't ask."

"I found you here for a reason, gentlemen," said Shacklebolt, walking in the direction of the clubrooms. "Come and find me when you're done."

Twenty minutes later, we joined Shacklebolt at a table under a green umbrella, overlooking the stately golf course.

"What did you need, Kingsley?"

"By now, you will have heard that there is a virus that is currently affecting China. The Muggle Prime Minister is concerned that should the Chinese government fail to contain the virus, it will spread across the globe. Experts predict that the effects of a pandemic of that magnitude would be hitherto unseen since the plague."

I snorted. "Seems unlikely."

Shacklebolt made a vague gesture meant to indicate that he, too, was unconvinced, and then continued. The Muggle government wanted the Wizarding World's input into researching, developing and producing a vaccine, and Shacklebolt was calling on our involvement once again. He outlined the predicted costs of this new virus. The potential effects on the public healthcare system, the economy and the number of people expected to become ill or die from the virus were hard to believe, but the possibility alone was compelling.

"You wouldn't need the funding for this, though," Theo interjected.

"No, I'm not coming to you for capital this time. I'm coming to you because I'm offering you an opportunity to be a part of history once again. The last project was important, and we did excellent work that changed a lot of lives. But this time around, the enemy is much, much quicker. He has already raised his head. He's started taking lives in China, and it may only be a matter of time before he begins taking them in the United Kingdom." He set his drink down and looked at Theo and me with a steely earnestness. "You said that you wanted to be on the right side of something for once. This is your chance to fight for the Light side on something of global importance. Except this time, we'd be fighting a virus. Not Voldemort."

Theo was chewing on the inside of his mouth, pensively. He's considering this.

"The both of you were vital to the overall success of the Ministry on the Healer's Project, and this would be an extension of that." Shacklebolt paused and looked directly at me. "I'm going to ask Miss Granger to come back on board as well. Do you foresee a problem with the two of you working together once again?"

Going back to work on a Ministry project would mean our relationship would once again be against Ministry policies. But if the war taught us anything, it was that human lives should be protected at all costs. Was it selfish to consider turning down the opportunity to do something for the greater good?

I opened my mouth to speak but was interrupted by my phone vibrating in my pocket. Glancing down, I saw that it was my mother. I silenced the call and returned my attention to Shacklebolt. Immediately my phone buzzed again. I excused myself and walked away from the table.

"Hey Mum, can I call you back? I'm just in the -" I was cut off by the sound of my mother sobbing on the other end of the line. "Mum, what's wrong?"

"Oh, honey, it's your father."