Hermione walked swiftly through Diagon Alley. It was her typical Friday night. It was mid July so the temperature was comfortable and warm. She had finished working at the ministry and apparated to go pick up some new reading for the weekend. Some things truly never change.

As she walked into Flourish and Blotts, the clerk greeted her.

"Here for some new weekend reading Hermione?"

"But of course! How's it been? Busy day?" She nodded towards the stack of mail order packages on the desk.

"Hogwarts semester is starting in a couple of months. Early bird parents are putting in orders already."

"How funny! One of my favorite parts of the school experience was coming to Diagon Alley before the term with my best friends to shop."

"Times change I guess."

"I guess so... Well I'm going to see if anything will catch my eye"

"Sure thing. See you in a minute"

She gave him a small smile and started up the stairs. As she walked she scanned titles, trying to decide what she was in the mood for this weekend. She walked by an entire Harry Potter section. She chuckled to herself, Harry hadn't changed a bit, he still hated all of the attention - she could picture him stammering awkwardly if he had seen this whole area. She pondered the war, how it had aged them, but hadn't changed the core of who they were as people.

After the war had ended, she and Ron hadn't lasted long. They realized that they were just family to each other, and in a moment of loneliness and fear they had projected something onto their friendship that wasn't really there. Thank Merlin it hadn't effected their friendship a bit, they remained as close as ever after the breakup. Molly took it the hardest really, having her heart set on Hermione as a daughter in law. Their breakup had freed Ron up to be selfish and chase after a career in Quidditch as he'd always dreamed. He had just made Keeper of the Chudley Cannons. They couldn't have been prouder of him. He was eating up all of the attention, for unlike Harry he loved it.

Harry was an Auror. He and Ginny finally got married last year. They were still as in love as ever and Ginny (much to Harry's chagrin) started remodeling Grimmaulds place. She took after her mother and was a natural homemaker. She at least let him keep Sirius' room and the study as it was.

Hermione wore many hats in the ministry but, she was mostly in research. She had a beautiful, modern, two bedroom flat, roomy enough for guests but small enough to be cozy. After the war had ended, she had found her parents and restored their memories. All in all, she had a wonderful life, she was alone often but never lonely. She joined Sunday brunch at the Burrow regularly and her parents visited frequently. She enjoyed her solitude. Honestly, after the war, she needed to rebuild herself, and figure out who she was without the consistent stress of trying to keep Harry alive.

She turned the corner to a new row of books and came face to face with -

"Malfoy?" Her mouth hung open.

His shock mirrored her own. "Granger! .. Hi."

"Hi" She said carefully

He scratched his eyebrow uncomfortably and then shoved his hands in his pockets. "I... erm... how are you?"

She looked at him, taking him in, he was taller than she remembered. Although, the last time she'd been this close to him was their third year, and she was punching him in the face. All of the pretense and haughtiness that he had carried himself with throughout their school years was gone. He was just... a man. Albeit at the moment a very uncomfortable one. The corner of her mouth quirked.

"I'm good, I'm great. Trying to find a good book actually. How are you?"

He seemed shocked she was being so polite to him. "I'm.. also good. And also trying to find a book" He chuckled nervously.

Hermione smiled gently. "Well then, this was... interesting. Have a good weekend" She started to move past him.

"Granger?"

She stopped and looked at him "Hm?" Their eyes locked and caramel met stormy grey. He stuttered.

"I'm... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The words started tumbling out as he talked almost as though he couldn't stop them. It were as if he'd rehearsed this and now finding the courage to begin, the words just followed by practice. "I was a coward. I was... pretty terrible actually. I have a lot to apologize for. Not just to you but to everyone I had treated poorly under the sham of blood status. I am very ashamed of who I was. I cringe at the thought of the things I did and said. Fear and brainwashing are only an excuse to a point. I knew what I was doing was wrong. I'm sorry I didn't have the courage to be better, and I'm sorry I stood idly by as horrible things were done to you in my home. I'm just... I'm sorry." He stood there out of breath from his speech and looking a tad desperate.

The stood in silence for a minute as she processed. His eyes finally fell to his shoes. When she spoke she spoke slowly trying to find the words. She dipped her head slightly to catch his eyes. "You are not your past. You are the choices you make going forward and the person you choose to be and fight to be daily. Thank you for your apology. I never held it against you, any of it. Our generation grew up in a... strange and horrible time. You couldn't help the family you were born into any more than I could help been muggle born, but I think you're doing a pretty good job of recreating yourself. I'm proud of you, it takes courage to admit fault. And I forgive you."

He smiled. She realized in that moment she'd never seen him smile, truly, only smirk his haughty pampered smirk. He had a nice smile. "Okay" He finally said.

She smiled back "Okay"

He started to leave and stopped once more, he pulled a book from the shelf. "This is a good book, I enjoyed it quite a bit." He smiled broadly as she took it.

"Goodbye Draco."

"See you around Hermione"

She stood there for a minute until she heard the jingle of the shop door. She looked down, "Broken Angels" was the book title. Sure why not, she thought to herself. She paid for the book and headed home mulling over the interaction with Malfoy.

When she got home, she changed out of her work clothes into a soft jumper and some shorts. She made herself some dinner and curled up by the fireplace with her new book. Within 10 minutes she was immersed. She couldn't put the book down. By the time she finished it was after 3am. The book had pulled her in, centered around a character seeking redemption, and following their journey to recreating who they were. She had laughed, she had cried, it was a captivating novel. She usually tried to spread a book throughout the weekend but she really couldn't help but finish it.

She crawled into bed and fell asleep wondering if this was the book that inspired Draco to change himself.