It came as a surprise to everyone when Draco Malfoy apologized to Hermione Granger. As well as when he helped fund and participate in the restoration of Hogwarts school, inheriting most of the Malfoy fortune after his father was arrested.
It sparked all kinds of odd rumors when he and Hermione formed a friendship of sorts as he tried to ease his guilty conscience. Observing Hermione's morals and character while trying to shape himself into a better man to represent the Malfoy name. It was front page Daily Prophet news when he commissioned the demolition of Malfoy Manor.
Years later their friendship became a partnership that combined his ambition and knowledge with her perseverance and intellect. Together they made an unstoppable team, working as officials within the ministry as part of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Draco found himself happy with his position at the ministry, and happy to have found a friend in Hermione. Not that he would admit it of course.
He sat with his ankles propped up on his desk, leaning back in his chair as he swallowed the last bite of his apple. He flipped lazily though the newest gossip article in Witch Weekly. The title read: "War Heroine and Reformed Death Eater Secretly In Love?". He scoffed, skimming through the writer's various speculations before tossing the magazine aside and picking up his quill. He was signing off on the last of his morning paperwork when Hermione returned to their shared office, placing her coat on its hanger and moving to sit at her desk across the room.
"Reading that preposterous trash again?" She asked, motioning briefly to the discarded magazine.
He smirked. "I find it amusing."
"You just want to use it to mess with people. Like when they said you'd been cursed by Nagini and you went out into public hissing like a snake."
Draco laughed, remembering how angry Hermione had been when he'd came into work after hearing about that. "You should have seen the look on that reporters face. She left me alone for an entire month."
Hermione smirked, rolling her eyes and grabbing at her nearest stack of papers. "So what is it about this time? I'd like to be prepared if you're going to pull another one of your stunts."
Draco glanced over at the magazine, remembering the picture of him pulling at the arm of her coat and leading her around a corner. He'd only been trying to lead her away from the unwanted attention, but he should have realized how it might have looked.
"Us." He replied, grabbing at the magazine and throwing it on her desk. She scowled at him when it knocked one of her folders to the floor, levitating it back onto the desk before reading the article.
She let out an irritated sound, throwing it into her rubbish bin and returning to her work. "Ridiculous."
"At least it's not another fluff piece about you and Weasley getting back together."
"I suppose that's true. People can split amicably and still care about each other. They just can't seem to believe that a man and a woman can just be friends."
"They always make me sound so sinister. Like I'm trying to 'silence your Gryffindor roar' or whatever the hell that woman said a couple of months ago. As if you'd ever be with me."
Draco stood, grabbing at his jacket and putting it on. "I'm going to turn this in, do you have anything you want me to take?"
He looked over to see Hermione staring at him with a strange expression, her eyebrows furrowed and her head tilted slightly.
"What? Do I have something on my face?"
"Why did you say it like that?"
"Say what?"
"You said 'as if I'd ever be with you'. Don't you mean as if we would ever be together?"
Draco paused, an awkward silence between them as he thought about his choice of words. "Granger, you're part of the Golden Trio that saved the wizarding world. Isn't it obvious?"
"You shouldn't talk about yourself that way. You've changed a lot since your father went to prison."
"Yeah yeah, I'm not the spoiled arse I used to be."
"I didn't say that." He glared at her.
"So you're telling me..." He said leaning against the door frame. "That if I asked you on a date that you wouldn't turn me down flat?"
"Yes."
Draco's mouth fell open, his eyes wide in disbelief. Hermione looked away, adjusting her stack of papers.
"I just mean that... I would think about it."
"Interesting." He spoke, turning on his heel and leaving the room. He hoped the odd tension lingering between them would dissipate before he returned. Maybe he would take an early lunch just to be sure.
Over the next few months, Draco noticed a slight change in Hermione. Their conversations were the same, as was their work and banter. But she seemed to be studying him. Watching him more closely as if she were examining a specimen under a microscope. It was seriously getting on his nerves, and yet he found himself enjoying the attention.
One day he stopped by her flat, helping her finish the last of their upcoming presentation as the sun began to set. As he stood to leave, he noticed cat hair clinging to the legs of his trousers where Crookshanks had been rubbing up against him.
"Granger your bloody cat keeps rubbing its hair all over me! I have to inspect my clothes every time I leave your flat."
Hermione stopped rinsing their tea cups and called out sarcastically from the kitchen. "How unforgivable!"
Draco froze, looking toward the kitchen in disgust. "Did you just pun?"
Hermione rounded the corner, wiping off her hands with a small towel. "What?"
"Did you just make a pun? Un-fur-giveable?"
"Huh. I guess I did... unintentionally." She smiled at his appalled expression. She seemed to enjoy finding new ways to annoy him. "What? Was it not punny?"
The scowl on Draco's face made Hermione laugh. She could be so irritating... and yet...
"Would you go to the Ministry gala with me?"
Hermione paused, staring at him the way she looked when she was deep in thought. He felt Crookshanks rub against his leg again as seconds past. One... two...
"Yes."
Everyone was surprised when the next month's edition of Witch Weekly's fluff piece turned out to be true. Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy were dating. What an odd statement.
It had been difficult at first, falling in sync in their relationship. Several people stated that their dynamic was 'unnatural'. The way they teased and competed with each other. But they liked their relationship that way; it was fun.
They took it slow, testing the waters of their compatibility. When they finally did have their first kiss, they found that they were compatible indeed.
"You and Hermione..." Harry said, standing by Hermione's desk waiting for her to return for lunch. "I can't believe that you two got together. Much less lasted half a year."
"Seven months actually, which means you're out of the pot."
"You knew about the bet?"
"Oh please. Blaise can't keep a secret to save his life. Isn't your wife the only one left in the pool?"
"Gin's down for a year and a half. She says that you make Hermione happy; that you challenge her."
Draco chuckled, smirking to himself. "She's a bit of a challenge herself."
"You know..." Harry hesitated. "I never thanked you. For not turning us in that day at the manor... thanks."
Draco avoided his eyes, staring down at his desk. He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders slightly.
"I know when I've been played for a fool."
Harry moved then, walking over to stand at Draco's desk. Harry held out his hand, waiting as Draco stood from his chair to shake it.
"Have you told her you love her yet?"
"Mind your own business Potter."
Harry watched as Draco turned and walked over to the door, checking to see if Hermione was outside it.
"I'm sure she knows... but we haven't gotten that far yet." He confessed through gritted teeth, knowing that Harry would ask Hermione if he didn't answer.
"Where is she?"
A stream of light caught their attention as Hermione's patronus phased through the floor between them. The otter swirled midair before settling in front of Draco. It stared at him, casting a faint blue hue throughout the room as it floated in front of him.
"I'm otterly in love with you..." Came Hermione's voice, sounding nervous but amused as the otter faded from existence. Harry was doubled over, laughing at the brilliant red of Draco's shocked face.
Draco swore that there could be no one more frustrating than Hermione Granger. He could be angry later, but right now... he needed to find his witch.