Hiya! This is my first fanfiction do please be gentle! I also do not have a beta, but if anyone is willing to volunteer that would be lovely. Thanks xo

CHAPTER 1

"Another whiskey sir?"

"Just leave the bottle."

Draco Malfoy poured himself another large whiskey at the bar of some dingy back alley Muggle Bar, ignoring the familiar burn of the amber liquid. He would be lying if he had said that today had been the hardest day of his career as a Lawyer, having just been responsible for just sending several of his old school friends to Azkaban for their crimes against fellow wizards during the Great War.

Draco had managed to escape punishment for his crimes due to his last minute change of heart and his Mothers deceit to the Dark Lord. Since then he'd been on somewhat of a crusade to erase his past and restore the name Malfoy back in the wizarding world. His choice to become a lawyer surprised every one, especially when he chose to prosecute those who had belonged to the same cause as he did growing up. In his youth, Draco was able to identify with them, but now he was filled with a mixture of disgust,at their actions, and shame, that he ever identified with them.

As Draco sat at the bar, thinking over his choices and listening to the storm outside, he barely noticed a woman walk in.

"Whiskey. Large."

Draco looked up and saw a none other than Hermione Granger sitting opposite him.

As Hermione walked down the street in the pouring

She looked like Hermione Granger, only she was absolutely soaked from the rain outside and she was wearing a wedding dress.

"Granger?" Draco asked, not really believing the sight before him.

"Malfoy." She replied, removing the wet hair from her face.

"What in Merlins name are you doing here dressed like that?" He asked, gesturing at her peculiar attire.

"I was getting married today." Hermione said, motioning to the soaked dress she was wearing.

"Clearly. And why are you not there now?" Draco said, pouring himself another drink.

"I walked in on my darling fiancé Ronald shagging Lavender Brown in a bathroom 10 minutes before I was due to walk down the aisle." Hermione stated bluntly, downing her drink in one mouthful.

Draco stared at Hermione open mouthed. He knew that Ron Weasley was stupid, but he didn't realise he was that stupid.

"Well shit Granger. Here." He said, sliding the bottle of whiskey down the bar to her. "You need this more than I do."

Hermione laughed as she caught the bottle sliding down the bar. She took in Draco Malfoys appearance. He looked like how she remember him, except he looked tired and worn down from whatever he had done today.

"Come on," she said, motioning to an empty booth behind them. "I'll need help finishing this."

Draco raised an eyebrow at her, but still followed her into the booth with his glass, not really sure how this night would end up.

As the clock struck eleven and the bartender called for last drinks, Hermione realised that she was in trouble.

"Shit." She muttered

"What?" Draco asked, taking a final sip from his glass.

"I've forgotten to find somewhere to stay tonight." Hermione giggled drunkenly.

"What about your place?" Draco asked.

"Ron might be there." Hermione replied, finishing her drink.

"Why not stay with Potter and his wife?" Draco enquired, wondering why she would avoid her friends.

She shook her head ferociously. "Because I don't want to. Harry is his best friend and Ginny is his sister and he's probably there."

It was a fair point that she had, although Draco thought that Hermione should give Potter more credit than that, especially in these circumstances. He wasn't sure what to do, he wanted to help her but he wasn't sure if she would accept it.

"You could stay at my place." He suggested quietly, waiting to see her reaction.

"Why would you do that for me?" She asked, cocking her head to the side. "You hate me."

"I don't hate you Granger." He said calmly, running his finger along the edge of the glass. "And I can't stand the thought of walking out of here and leaving you to your own devices."

Hermione looked at him, focusing as best she could with half a bottle of whiskey in her. He did look genuine in his intentions and he had sat drinking with her for the past few hours.

"Ok then." She agreed, not really sure if she could have reached this decision if she was sober. "Just two conditions."

"And what might they be?" Draco asked, a small smile coming to his face.

"One, promise me you won't tell anybody where I am." She instructed, holding one finger up.

"Ok." Draco agreed, "and two?"

"Don't take me anywhere near the drawing room"

Draco's shoulders dropped and he suddenly felt sick. She thought he lived at the Manor. The same place where she was tortured. The same place where he did nothing to save her. He actually lived in London, muggle London no less. He found the busy city life suited him better, plus living amongst muggles gave Draco some much needed privacy.

"Ok Granger." He said, standing up and offering her his coat for protection from the cold outside.

Hermione stood up, wobbling slightly as she put her arms through the sleeves. Draco reached out and put an arm around her waist to support her as they left the bar. He hailed a cab, bundled Hermione inside and muttered his address to the driver.

"Why are you doing this for me Malfoy?" Hermione asked, hiccuping slightly. "It's not like we're friends or anything."

Draco looked at her, not really sure of the answer himself. "Well," he began, "it wouldn't have been very gentlemanly of me to leave you in that place in this state and I've figured you've had a rough day, so no point adding to it."

He looked at Hermione after he had finished speaking, but she had fallen asleep, using his arm as a pillow. She looked peaceful when she slept, like she had nothing to worry about, but Draco knew that once she woke up and was sober, that she would have to face these issues whether she wanted to or not.

The taxi pulled up outside Draco's house in Knightsbridge and when the driver was distracted, he silently cast a feather weight charm on Hermione, knowing that she would be a dead weight if he attempted to pick her up now.

"Enjoy your wedding night." The taxi driver said to Draco with a wink as he pulled away.

Draco just scowled at the man before realising that they probably did look like newlyweds, what with Hermione in a wedding dress and him in a suit. He carried Hermione up the stairs, opened the front door. He somehow managed to drop his briefcase and kick his shoes off as he carried her up the stairs to one of his guest bedrooms. He laid her on the bed carefully before going to his bedroom to grab her something more appropriate to sleep in.

When he returned with a pair of pyjama pants and one of his old Slytherin t-shirts shrunk down so she wasn't swimming in it, he found her sitting on the edge of the bed in a nude strapless bra and matching panties.

"Uhhh here," Draco said, walking into the room, his eyes glued firmly to the floor and holding out the pyjamas. "I thought you'd like to sleep in something a little less formal."

Hermione wordlessly took them and changed into them. As Draco was walking out, she mumbled a thank you.

Halfway to the door, he heard her ask herself quietly, "What did I do wrong?"

Draco turned around to look at her. She looked broken, the Weasel had finally broken her. Draco turned around and sat next to her on the bed, not really sure what to do, upset women were not his forte.

"Look Granger," He started, "Weasel never deserved you and he was never going to treat you right."

"But we were supposed to be together." Hermione moaned.

"Says who?"

"Everybody. It's how it was supposed to be." She said, like it was common knowledge. "Harry married Ginny and I was supposed to marry Ron. That was the way it was supposed to end up."

"Well that's ridiculous." Draco snorted. "You shouldn't live your life according to how others dictate. Trust me. I should know."

Hermione looked up at him, her big brown eyes filled with tears. Then suddenly she flung her arms around him and began to sob. Draco immediately put his arms around her, letting her release all of the emotions she had been walling up. He felt a little awkward being in such close proximity to a hysterical Hermione Granger, but he figured he'd come this far in redeeming himself, that he might as well keep going.

After twenty minutes, when she had composed herself, Draco removed her arms from him. "If there is anything you need, uh, my bedroom is up the stairs and to the right and the kitchen is downstairs, help yourself." He informed her as he was in the doorway.

Hermione just nodded in response as she crawled under the quilt and falling asleep.

Draco closed the door and retreated downstairs, running his hand over his face and thinking about what an odd day he had had. He went into the kitchen and pulled a beer out the fridge, he popped the lid and took a large swig and looked around his kitchen when his thoughts wandered to the sleeping woman upstairs. Draco hadn't really seen Hermione since they left school. He knew that she got together with Weasley and that he moved them all the way up to Scotland, but that's about it. She looked almost the same, she had cut her hair to just under her ears and had grown into a more mature look, which Draco thought made her look more attractive. Draco quickly pushed that thought aside.

He finished his beer and put the empty bottle on the counter, moving up the stairs he pulled out his muggle mobile phone and dialled a number he never thought he would.

"Hello?"

"Potter." Draco said, stifling a yawn. "Sorry to be ringing so late."

Draco walked through the Ministry towards the Auror offices with a determined look on his face. He knew that if he didn't do this now, he never would. He walked up to the Head of Departments door, knocked three times and entered.

"Afternoon Potter." Draco said, a bit nervously

"Malfoy." Harry replied politely, trying and failing to keep a confused look off of his face.

"There is something I need to talk to you about." He said, gaining some composure.

Harry pointed to the seat opposite him, looking just as confused as before. Draco sat down opposite his old school nemesis, steadying his breathing he mustered the courage to look Harry Potter straight in the eyes.

"Well," Draco began, tapping his fingers nervously, "I've just joined the Ministry as a junior Lawyer, for now I'll be focusing on prosecuting former Death Eaters and representing victims of the war."

Harry's eyebrows raised in shock at what Draco was saying, but Draco couldn't help himself. He was rambling and he knew it and so did Harry.

"What I'm trying to get at," Draco continued, taking a deep breath, "is that we're obviously going to be working in close proximity to one another, so I was hoping that we could move past our Hogwarts days and possibly be friendly."

Draco waited while Harry looked at him, studying him to see if his intentions were genuine. Harry stood up and held his hand out. Draco stood up and shook it. He felt a sudden relief in himself, that this was the right path to his redemption not just in the Wizarding world, but his own peace of mind.

"What do you need?" Harry Potter said, rather tensely. "Sorry, we've only just got James to sleep after today's circus."

Draco hadn't realised how late it was, he glanced at the clock and realised that it was nearly one thirty in the morning.

"Sorry."

"No I am." Harry said tiredly, "It was Hermione and Ron's wedding today."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Draco said, "It's about Granger. She's asleep in my spare room."

"What?" Harry practically yelled. "How the fuck did that happen?"

"I was in a bar having a drink after the shit day I had and she burst in in her dress. The short story is she got drunk and didn't want to go home out of fear of the Weasel-" Draco told Harry.

"Why didn't she come here then?" Harry interrupted.

"She said something about Gin being his sister and you being his best mate." Draco explained, "For the record, I thought she should have given you and your wife more credit than that. So I told her she could stay at mine tonight."

There was silence on the other end. Draco could tell that Harry was getting angry at Ron and the shit storm he created.

"Tell you what," Draco said, quickly thinking of a plan, "Why don't you, Gin and James come over tomorrow at 11 and we'll sort this out tomorrow?"

"That sounds like a great idea." Harry said, sounding relieved that Draco had thought of what to do. "See you tomorrow mate."

Draco hung up and got changed for bed. As he crawled into bed and turned the light off he reflected on his conversation with Harry. It had been three years since they became friends, and there was not a moment of regret. All he had to do was wait and see what the morning would bring when Hermione woke up. He wondered what would happen in the morning when she woke up, either she would scream the house down or hex him, but knowing her, Draco thought, it would probably be both.