Chapter 19

Love looks pretty on you. It makes you soft, tender, proud. Makes you sit up and take notice. Gives you a home to set down your things.

What a blessing it is, to have dancing and music and poetry. What a gift it is, to look at someone and say,

I'm happy to have found you - at last, at last, at long, long last - you're here.

-Lang Leav

Present Time: December 2001

A few weeks later, Draco and Hermione were standing at the edge of the sitting room at Grimmauld Place, waiting to count down to the new year. It was the first time they'd been completely alone all night, so Draco took the opportunity to steal a kiss. He celebrated inwardly when she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

"Thanks for not pushing me away," he whispered.

"Draco, I'm not ashamed of you." She placed another kiss on his cheek, as if to emphasize the point.

Draco saw Longbottom mutter something to his girlfriend, then turn away from them. Oh well, Draco hadn't expected to win all her friends over in one night. Especially the ones like Longbottom, who he'd been especially cruel to in school.

"I guess I expected you to be a little embarrassed about this around your friends," Draco admitted.

"Well, you were wrong. And tonight wasn't as bad as you thought it would be, was it?"

"That may be because I passed most of it in a cupboard, playing with a three-year-old," Draco replied. "And I have the last ten days to compare it with which were-"

"Awful, I know." She wrapped her arms around him and buried her head in his chest. "I owe you big time for that. And I promise I'm going to spend the next few days making it up to you."

Draco tilted her chin up so he could see her face. "Tell me more." He imagined the look of eager anticipation on his face was similar to that of Teddy's, earlier, when Draco had promised to send over any dragon figurines he could find stuffed away at the back of his closet.

"We've been with so many other people, lately," she continued, "my parents, Theo, everyone tonight. So, for the next three days, I want it to be just us."

"Just us?"

"Yes."

"And a hundred chores, right? Laundry, groceries for the week, any work you need to prepare for Monday…"

Hermione frowned. "Yeah, I do have a lot to get done…"

Draco gave her a resigned nod.

"How about this? Tomorrow will be chore day. Okay? I'll cram it all in to twenty-four hours and leave Saturday and Sunday completely open for just you. Anything you want."

"No Burrow?"

"No."

"No work?"

"I'll prepare everything tomorrow. Really, whatever you want."

"I want to do nothing, except have a lot of sex."

"I expected as much."

"I don't even want to cook. I want to have Finley bring us all our meals in bed," he pressed.

"Oh," she faltered. "Okay. Whatever you want," she said eventually, though it looked like it pained her to say so.

Draco wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "I was kidding about Finley."

"You were?"

"Yes." He wanted her in a good mood this weekend and involving Finley would certainly not accomplish that.

Hermione smiled up at him. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

A few people in the room started counting down. "Thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-eight…"

"Do you have any New Year's resolutions, this year?" Hermione asked, leaning in to speak in Draco's ear, so he could hear her over the noise in the room.

Draco tightened his grip on Hermione and pulled her closer to him. "If next year I'm standing somewhere, with you in my arms like this, I'll count the whole thing as a raging success."

Hermione smiled, then stood on her toes and gave him a peck on the cheek. "When did you become so sappy?"

"I think the answer to that is obvious." He placed a soft kiss on her lips, ignoring the glares he knew were directed their way. The other people in the room didn't matter. All that mattered was that Hermione was his, and he was hers. Draco had never been so comforted by another thought in his entire life.

Present Time: January 2002

The next night, Draco went to visit Daphne at the Greengrass Estate, since Hermione was going to be busy with work for the rest of the evening as she prepared for the weekend of doing nothing but shagging that she'd promised Draco during Potter's party, the night before.

Draco found Daphne in the library, reading a magazine by the fire. He took it as a good sign that she wasn't on the roof. The Blaise plan must have gone okay.

"Welcome back," Daphne said, smiling warmly when she spotted him in the doorway. "How was your trip?"

"It was fine," Draco said as he walked in the room. "You look…happy."

Daphne stood to greet him, then leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Are you the only person allowed to look happy these days?"

"No, of course not."

"Or perhaps there's a special permit I need to pick up at the Ministry. Is that the problem? I'm acting happy without a permit?"

"I take it back. You're clearly your usual, snippy self," he quipped as he lowered himself in the chair opposite the one she'd been sitting in.

Daphne resumed her seat, then kicked his leg playfully. "I'm happy because you're back."

"I'm glad to be back. What happened here without me? How's Blaise?"

Daphne waved dismissively. "Let's do you, first. How was Australia? How were the Grangers? They didn't kill you. And neither did all those Gryffindors. I'm actually surprised to see you all in one piece. Or have you spent the day healing at St. Mungo's and just been released?"

Draco scoffed. "You don't think I can defend myself against two, unarmed Muggles and a band of lovable Gryffindors?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I'll give you the Muggles, but we're talking about two Aurors, the man who killed the Dark Lord's snake, the witch renowned for her painful Bat-Bogey Hexes, and, well, I don't know – who else was there?"

"It was fine," Draco said quickly, cutting her off. He hated when people listed out the accomplishments of all of Hermione's friends. "There was a lot of glaring, but no one hexed anyone, so I'm calling that a win. And apparently, we're going to start going to Potter's every week for dinner so…I don't know…I guess they'll continue to get more used to me."

"And the Muggles?"

Draco sighed. "That was hard. Her mother made me show her my Dark Mark as soon as we arrived and they – I don't know – they were afraid of me. It made me feel sick. And we couldn't use any magic, which was awful. It was…that one will take time. But Theo was a hit, at least with her father."

"Oh, right. I forgot he was there. I don't know what it is about that git, but nice people seem to love him."

"I think he's secretly nice on the inside."

Daphne hummed. "Like you, then."

"I am not!"

"Sure…"

"Whatever, tell me about Blaise."

Daphne leaned back in her seat and crossed one of her ankles over the other. "It was okay. Good, actually. He was annoyed to see me there at first, but he let me stay and we spent most of the night playing chess and talking about random stuff."

"Okay. Was that the desired result?"

"Yeah. I think so. I just wanted him to know that I know what happened with his grandmother and everything and that even though his mother is awful, not everyone in his life is. And I think that came through. And you'll be happy to know that I spent the night and we did not shag. I stayed in the spare bedroom."

Draco clapped and Daphne kicked him again. "Good for you. Really. You seem to have this new peace about the Blaise situation."

"Yeah," she replied, nodding thoughtfully. "Your mother gave me this advice that really helped. She said I should just decide how I wanted it to be with me and Blaise, after I got over my feelings and everything. She said to imagine how it would feel to just be friends with him, how I would act, what my reactions to certain comments and situations would be. Then she said to just do it. Pretend. And that with time, the façade I was putting on would become reality."

"Huh. That's very Pureblood advice. But it worked?"

"Yeah. I think it did. I feel a lot more at ease around him, like I'm actually a good friend of his, not just someone desperately in love with him, pretending to be a good friend. It was subtle, the change, but it happened just like your mother said. She's pretty brilliant."

"At least you like her," he said darkly.

"Hermione will get there. At her core, she's very forgiving. I think she just needs to let this grudge play out for a bit."

"I don't know," Draco replied noncommittally. "Anyway, I'm happy about your newfound peace. Watching you struggle with all that was painful."

"I'm happy to spare you the pain," she quipped. "And I'm going to start dating again. I want to find what you have with Hermione. A true partner."

Draco just hummed.

"What? What's going on with Hermione? I'm sure she doesn't care about all this parent/friend drama."

"Nothing's going on. We're good."

"You're not as good at lying as you think. Tell me."

"Fine. But you can't tell her. Okay?"

"Obviously not. Now what is it?"

Draco sighed and looked out the window as he answered her. He told her who Teddy was and how he'd passed the majority of Potter's party playing with him in the cupboard. Then, he explained how that had led to a conversation later that night with Hermione about kids.

"She asked if I wanted them and I said 'Yes, I've always wanted kids.' Then she said, 'Still?'"

Daphne waved him away. "I'm sure she didn't mean it like that."

"How else could she have meant it?"

"Did you ask her?"

"No. She apologized and tried to brush it off, but it's clear she still doubts me. I've told her I love her a thousand times, but somewhere deep down she thinks I don't want a future with her because of her blood, even though she knows we're going to end up married, though we have that rule to never talk about it. I – I don't know how else to prove it to her."

"Maybe it's just an instinct, leftover from school days. With time that will go away. She adores you and it's clear to everyone, even Blaise, how perfect you two are for each other. But it's only been a few months. Give it time."

Draco sighed and looked back out the window. He watched a few gnomes walk across the yard and settle into the bushes. "You're very mature, Daphne," he announced after several moments of silence. "When did that happen?"

"I don't know. Probably about the same time it happened for you."

He let out a small laugh.

"Did it hurt a bit?" she asked, a slow smile creeping across her face. "The maturing process?"

Draco chuckled. "Yes. It was very painful."

Present Time: May 2003 (one and a half years later)

"Bloody hell!" Hermione exclaimed, leaning her back against Draco's chest as she rocked on top of him. Draco smiled. He loved when she cursed during sex. He turned his head and began sucking her neck on the spot she liked, just below her ear, eliciting another loud moan.

She sat up again and began bouncing faster, bracing her hands back on his thighs for leverage. Draco could not get enough of the view of her perfect arse and his cock plunging in and out of her. He felt that familiar tension building at his core and grabbed her hips to slow her pace, biting down hard on his lip to keep from finishing.

He moved a hand around her and began rubbing her clitoris vigorously, causing her to let out several loud cries. Draco was moving his other hand up to cup her breast when there was a banging sound on the wall behind them, followed by a garbled voice.

"Shit!" Hermione cried, stopping her movements. "We forgot a Silencing Charm."

Draco fumbled for his wand on the side table. "Keep moving," he grunted, bucking his hips to entice her to continue her rocking. His wand rolled to the ground when he hit it with his hand. Draco swore before Summoning it with a wordless spell.

"Silencio," he murmured, pointing his wand haphazardly at the wall. He tossed the wand to the side and returned his hands to Hermione's breasts. "We're fine. Keep going," Draco urged, going back to kissing her neck as he fondled her breasts.

"Yeah, okay, ahhh." She released a contented sigh as she settled back into her rocking motion from before.

"You're so fucking gorgeous," he purred in her ear.

"Thanks," she gasped, making him smile. Even now, she couldn't help but be polite. That was, between all the swearing. "I hate my neighbors," she bit out next.

Draco almost said, "Then move. Let's get a house together, then we can see each other all the time and have loud sex, whenever we want."

He bit his tongue. You can't ask her to move in with you during sex. Hermione deserves something more romantic than that.

I know. That's why I'm biting my tongue.

"Draco!" she cried, moving erratically now. "I'm close. Are you – are you – ?"

Draco wrapped an arm around her chest and pulled her back against him, causing her to gasp at the new angle. "Don't worry about me," he breathed in her ear. "Let go."

He bucked his hips in time with hers and rubbed her clitoris again, causing her to finally fall apart around him. Once she'd finished rocking through her orgasm, she turned her head and started kissing him fiercely, knowing by now this was how he liked to finish.

Draco buried his hand in her curls and after another minute, found his release, moaning a string of swears against her lips. He collapsed against the headboard behind him, taking her with him, his arm still wrapped around her front. He nearly toppled to the side but caught himself with his right hand. "Shit."

"What's going on back there?" she asked lazily.

"One sec." Draco pushed her back up, then gathered some pillows behind him before lying back again. "Okay," he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back down.

She melted as she laid against his chest. "I feel boneless," she announced after a few moments.

"It took one, very large, impressive bone to accomplish that," Draco joked.

He could feel her rolling her eyes, even though he couldn't see it. "I should have seen that awful pun coming."

"I could say something else about 'coming' here, but I'm going to leave it alone."

She laughed, then they were quiet, the only sound in the room was their breathing, thanks to the Silencing Charm. Draco pushed Hermione's hair, which was damp and sticking to her skin, off her neck and peppered a few lazy kisses there. "What are you thinking?" he murmured.

"About the time Harry lost the bones in his arm."

"I remember that."

"I've told you that story from my side, haven't I?"

"Several times."

Hermione hummed. He knew what was on her mind, now. It was her dismay at how Draco knew all of her stories from school but they rarely discussed his. She'd pressed him on this multiple times, trying a number of tactics to get him to talk about Hogwarts, though she'd finally given up a few months ago, likely realizing the truth. Unlike Hermione and her friends, whose antics were wholesome and usually part of some giant plot to defeat a bad guy, Draco's stories involved a good deal of cruelty, such as needless plotting against Gryffindors and Muggleborn-hating. It was best to leave them alone.

Draco hated the turn the conversation had taken and tried to steer it back to the topic of her flat, and how she should move, but couldn't figure out how to get it there before she rolled off him and announced they should get ready for the day.

"Okay," he said, trying to hide his disappointment at having failed to ask her to move in with him, yet again. Draco watched her clean herself off with her wand, then gather the clothes they'd shed earlier and deposit them in nice, folded piles on the bed. She walked over to the closet and he admired her backside as she stood there, looking for something to wear.

He wolf-whistled at her and she looked at him over her shoulder and shot him a shy smile before turning back to the closet. After she'd pulled on knickers, a pair of jeans, her bra, and a loose-fitting blouse, she sat next to him on the bed, resting her head on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Huh. So, she'd caught on to his bad mood? Damn, she was good. "Nothing." He turned his face and kissed the top of her head. "I love you."

Hermione pulled her legs up onto the bed and wrapped her arms around his middle, then put her head back down on his shoulder. "Do you want to come to the Burrow with me?"

"Ugh. No. Am I allowed to say no?"

"Of course. You went last weekend. I can stay if you want. You seem down."

"I just had incredible sex with the most gorgeous witch. I'm not down. I'm just relaxed and… pensive."

"Is there anything in particular on your mind?"

"The future," he replied, which was vague, but true.

He'd been thinking about their future for a while, specifically, how to get from where they were now, to the next step. He knew moving in was supposed to happen soon, and had been wanting to ask her for ages, but there had been the complication of the Manor to work out.

Draco couldn't leave his home for good and remain the head of the estate, so even if he moved somewhere else with Hermione, he would have to continue to spend at least two nights a week at Malfoy Manor (a fact he'd learned from his future self, years ago, but had recently proven through a series of experiments, since he was pretty sure he had to discover these things himself, so as not to inadvertently break the timeline by creating a paradox.)

Now that the length of time he needed to stay at the Manor was resolved and he'd cleared it with his mother, there was just Hermione left to ask. Draco was pretty sure she'd say yes, especially since Ginny had hinted, multiple times, that they should just get on with it (which may have been her way of telling him how Hermione was really feeling), but Draco had continued to wait.

He remembered during his time jump to May 2003 (which was happening on Wednesday, in this time) that his future self (him, now) was planning to ask Hermione to move in. So, Draco had thought it imperative to wait until after that jump to ask her, so he wouldn't alter any of the events on the timeline. It was all very confusing and gave him a headache anytime he thought of it, but it seemed like a solid excuse, so he'd waited.

But now, he was running out of excuses and just had to do it and trust that she wouldn't say no. She hadn't given any indication that she would. They were stronger than ever. He just had to do it and stop overthinking everything.

Hermione was talking, drawing Draco's attention back to the present. "That's right. You see past Draco in a few days, officially kicking off the time jumping from the other side."

"Yeah," Draco said noncommittally. That's what she'd assumed he was thinking about when he'd said 'the future.'

"Hey," she said, sitting up and pulling his face toward her. "You have to promise me you're okay. I'm not going to leave you alone, like this."

Draco gave her an obnoxious smile, showing all his teeth at once, then leaned in and kissed her on the nose. "Go see your friends. I'm okay. Really."

"Really, really?"

"Yes," he said, finally getting up out of the bed and stretching. "Now go."

"I'll be back soon, then we're going to practice making roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. We can have a late lunch, since we had breakfast so late this morning."

"How about I practice while you're gone?" he asked hopefully. "That way I can have it ready for you."

"And call Finley over to make it? Nice try."

Damn. Oh well, it was worth a shot. Draco had finished putting his clothes back on and pulled Hermione into a hug. "Have fun with your friends. Tell them all how much I wished I could be there but how busy I am with work."

"Uh huh." She kissed him on the cheek, then smacked his bum, winking at him before turning for the door. "I love you, Draco. I'll be home, soon."

Draco sat on the bed and flopped back as he let out a large sigh. She just called this place home. See? She doesn't want to move.

Well, she has to. I can't ask her to move in with me, then invite myself over to her flat, can I?

Maybe…?

No, the new house is a good idea. And if she doesn't like it, she'll say so. Just tell her what you're thinking and let her weigh in. It's Hermione we're talking about.

Yeah, that was the problem. It was Hermione, the witch he'd somehow won, against all odds. Even though they'd been together for nearly two years, he still had this fear at the back of his mind that if he made one wrong move, he'd lose her forever and now that the time jumping was kicking off again, he was more nervous than ever about making a mistake.

Knock knock.

Draco wasn't expecting Potter to answer his door, this time, though he tried to feign surprise when Ginny appeared in the doorway.

"Does your husband ever answer the door?" he drawled, leaning casually against the wall.

Ginny crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe, mirroring his pose. "You knew he'd be at work. Which means you must have come by to see me. What can I help you with, Ferret?"

Very few things got past this witch. She was almost as clever as Hermione. "I truly expected to find him here. He mentioned having patrol duty tonight, which means he should be off early today. I have some business to discuss with him."

"That patrol duty is Thursday night."

"Is it? I heard Tuesday."

"Sure, you did," she replied, obviously not buying his lie.

"Anyway, while I'm here…"

"Yes, let's just cut to the real reason for your visit."

Draco ignored her. "Have you, uh, talked to Hermione?"

"Ever…? Recently…?"

"Well, of course you've talked to Hermione."

Stop fumbling and get to the point.

"Have you talked to her about her living situation?" he asked.

"Ahh." Ginny smiled, then cocked her head inside. "Let's go in here."

"No, uh, that isn't necessary," Draco called after her, but she didn't listen and disappeared into the house. Draco poked his head inside the hallway. "Weasley!"

"It's Potter!" she called from inside. Draco sighed, then reluctantly walked into the house. Ginny was in the sitting room and had just poured a large glass of Fire Whiskey, which she handed to him when he walked into the room. "You look like you need this."

"Oh, uh, thanks," Draco said, taking the drink. He lingered by the doorway as she took a seat on the sofa.

"What's going on?" she asked once she was settled. "Why aren't you calling me Ginevra?"

Draco took a sip of his drink, then shrugged. "I just don't feel like it, today."

She fixed him with a searching glare, then, seemingly out of nowhere, a wicked grin came across her face and she said, "Call me 'Ginny' and I'll help you."

"I don't need your help," he said automatically, then took another gulp of the whiskey.

"So, you're not dancing around the subject of asking Hermione to move in with you?"

Draco sighed. It wasn't worth trying to play games with Ginny. "Fine. What will she say if I suggest we buy a house together? Is it too much?"

Ginny shot him another smirk as she looked at him expectantly. Draco took another swig of his drink. She was enjoying this too much. Then, she moved her hand behind her ear, making the gesture that said she was listening for something.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"You are a child," he grumbled.

"I'm okay with that."

"Ginny," he began, emphasizing her name, "can you help me? Please," he added, for good measure.

"I'd love to help you, Ferret," she exclaimed, sitting up straighter in her seat. "Now first, tell me why you want to buy a house. Why can't you just move into her flat, to start?"

"I can't very well ask her to move in with me, then invite myself into her flat, can I? And it's not like I'm going to ask her to move into the Manor. I'd never do that."

"No, of course not," Ginny agreed, leaning forward in her seat.

"And she doesn't like this flat much, anyway. She's said multiple times she wishes she could use more magic but can't since the landlord is Muggle and she's surrounded by Muggles. She doesn't like her neighbors, the layout, or the style. The only thing she seems to like is the location, but we can easily find a house in this same location, since money would be no object. But – would she have a problem with that? Me buying a house for her? Is it too much, too soon?"

"It's not too soon," Ginny said quickly. "Though buying a house…that is a lot…then again, it's all relative. For a normal wizard, buying a house is like, a huge deal, but for you – it's more like buying a…high end broom, or, since we're talking about Hermione, a first edition of some famous book."

"Okay…so you're saying I should buy her a house?"

"Not without telling her first. She'll want to be involved in finding the house. And she'll probably insist on paying you rent or something stupid like that."

Draco nodded. He'd assumed as much. Then he asked, a little embarrassed, "And she'll, uh, say yes?"

Ginny nodded enthusiastically. "Yes. Absolutely."

Draco eyed her warily. "Is this a prank? Are you setting me up for…I don't know, ridicule?"

"It's not a prank," she laughed. "Just talk to her. Tell her all the things you just told me."

"Okay. I can do that. Uh, when?"

"When she gets back from work. When else?"

"After a nice dinner. And how about a gift? Should I wrap up a key or something? Or perhaps put it inside the first edition of her favorite book. I'd have to go get a key first, and it would just be symbolic, since we'll lock our house up with magic."

"No frills," Ginny cut in. "Just ask her."

Draco nodded, then took a seat on the chair next to Ginny and thought about what she'd said while he sipped on his drink. Was it really that easy? Maybe he'd been overthinking it. He did tend to do that. He looked over at Ginny and saw a familiar, faraway look in her eyes.

Draco followed her gaze to a folded parchment on the side table with a sketch of Hogwarts on the front. He recognized it instantly as the program for the Anniversary of the Final Battle of Hogwarts (not because he'd attended, of course, but because Hermione had brought it back to her flat).

Draco cleared his throat. "How was the memorial last week?"

"Oh, um, fine."

"I'm sorry. I know what it's like to lose someone you love."

Ginny was quiet and Draco replayed his words in his mind. He thought it was all okay. He was mostly comfortable around Hermione's friends by now, but moments like this, when they were talking about the past, were always tricky.

"We don't have to do this," Ginny announced, turning back to look at him.

"I didn't say it because you helped me just now," he said defensively. "The sentiment is real."

"That's coming through. I'll accept the sentiment and pass on the conversation."

Draco smiled. "Perfect. This is why we get along so well." He drained the rest of his drink, then stood as he placed the empty glass on the side table.

"Do we," she asked, "get along well?

"Better than me and any other Weasley."

"Maybe that's because I'm a Potter now." She stood up and followed Draco back to the entrance. "Speaking of who, did you want to leave a message for Harry about that special business you stopped by to discuss with him?"

She was giving Draco a knowing look, but he ignored it. "No. I'll tell him the next time I see him."

Ginny shook her head as she opened the door for him. "Bye, Ferret. And good luck with Hermione, though I really don't think you'll need it."

"Thank you, Ginevra."

The next day, Draco was at Malfoy Manor, pacing the sitting room he'd converted into his study as he waited for the Draco from August 2000 to arrive. He was nervous about this meeting, but trying to hide it with Occlumency, something the other Draco would probably see through in five seconds. Draco sighed and dropped his Occlumency shields. Just then, someone cleared their throat from the doorway.

Draco jumped, then turned to find his past self standing there, watching him. How long had he been there?

"Nervous?" his younger self asked as he entered the room, smirking slightly.

Draco rolled his eyes. Why had he been so obnoxious?

Had been? Past tense?

Shut up.

Draco took a deep breath. He had no reason to be nervous. He had reviewed this meeting in the pensieve three times yesterday. He knew exactly what to say to keep the timeline on track. Nothing was going to happen to steer things off course.

Draco hoped the anxiety was a product of this being the first time jump from the other side. It must get better as time went on. It had to, otherwise Draco was going to have a heart attack before he reached 2006.

"Before you talk in circles about your wife and refuse to tell me any interesting details about my future, I'm under strict orders to ask you about Daphne," the other Draco began, just as Draco remembered himself starting the conversation in the pensieve. He relaxed. He could do this.

Then, as he thought of Daphne and recalled the conversation from the past that had led to this statement, he smiled. "She's doing just fine," he answered honestly. "She's happy. Just tell her to relax and that everything will be okay."

"I'm going to need something more specific."

Draco laughed, remembering what Daphne's reaction would be when he returned with such vague reassurances. But he hadn't told himself more details in the memory and he wasn't going to change that now. "Just tell her it will all turn out."

"You're not going to give me any more than that, are you?" the other man sighed, throwing himself onto the sofa at the end of the room.

"Nope."

"Whatever," he grumbled, then took a notebook out of his pocket. "Let's exchange dates."

Right. Draco already had a list of all the dates of the time jumps (it was just a future version of the list this Draco was currently holding) but it was missing a few details, like the length of time of the jumps, which he figured he was supposed to begin tracking now, so he could give the list to his past self later, letting him know when and for how long the time jumps would occur. How strange. He Summoned a parchment and quill from the desk and they each wrote the date from the other's time on their list.

Once the other Draco had finished with his notebook, he returned it to his pocket, then flopped back on the couch. As he studied the ceiling, Draco took a chance to study him. This whole experience was surreal, not just because he knew exactly what to expect because he'd memorized it in the pensieve, but because he knew this Draco.

He knew every detail of his life. How he spent his free time studying legal jargon with his mother, how he hated Hermione (what an idiot), how utterly and completely lost he felt and how desperately he was trying to hide it. The other Draco threw his arm over his eyes and sighed heavily.

Draco noticed how thin he looked, then sighed himself. He'd forgotten how bad it had been, before Hermione, and this wasn't even the worst of it. Once he started seeing himself from earlier in 2000 – he paused to blink back tears, just at the thought of it – that was going to be hard.

"What's new with you?" Draco asked, since he remembered doing so.

The other man looked over at him sardonically. "You know exactly what's going on in my life. How about you talk, instead? How's the wife?"

"I'm not married."

"Oh, well, yes, but you know what I mean. I assume you're already with her, since you'll be planning a wedding, next year."

"Yes, we're together. I'm actually trying to figure out how to ask her to move in with me."

"But not here."

"No. Not here."

"Why does she hate this house?" he asked quickly, clearly hoping to catch Draco off guard. But he didn't, of course.

"Nice try."

His younger self shrugged. "Just ask her. Why are you making such a big thing of it? You know she'll say yes, since she's going to end up married to you, one day."

"I actually got that same advice from someone else yesterday." Draco smiled inwardly at the thought of this Draco's reaction if he mentioned that it had been Ginny Weasley. "My girlfriend tends to overthink things," Draco explained.

Your girlfriend tends to overthink things? Or you tend to overthink things?

"And…what? You don't want her to think it's too serious? Does she not know what happens in the future?"

"No comment on the second question and the first one, no, I don't mind her thinking it's serious. She knows it's serious."

"How long have you been together?" he asked, quickly again.

"I'm not going to tell you that."

The other wizard sighed heavily, then sat up and looked out the window. "Do you want to fly? It looks nice here and we're in a heat wave back in my time, so I haven't ventured outside much."

"Sure."

Draco held back as the other man left for their bedroom to change into a set of flying robes. He pulled on his shirt, which was damp with sweat, to get some air. He wasn't going to visit the pensieve before these visits, again. It was too stressful trying to keep up with the flow of the conversation, trying to remember what was going on in the other Draco's time, while also mimicking everything he'd done in his memory. He needed to trust that he belonged with Hermione and that things would work out okay.

He fanned his shirt as he walked through the hall. Flying would be good. He could try to relax, wouldn't have to talk to his other self, then he could take a long bath as an excuse to get even more time alone. Luckily, this time jump wouldn't last very long, then he could get back to Hermione and get the whole, 'asking her to move in with him' thing over with. He'd been worrying about it for too long.

The past Draco returned to his time later that night, just before midnight, and Draco couldn't get to Hermione's flat fast enough. He'd been thinking of a way to ask her to move in with him all day, unable to fully take Ginny's advice about "no frills," and had finally come up with something simple, but perfect.

Hermione was asleep when he arrived at her flat, which was good, since he had a few things to set up to be ready in the morning. Before climbing into bed with Hermione, Draco set his wand alarm for 6:30am, to ensure he woke up before her to execute the rest of his plan. That was an obscene hour to wake up on a weekend, but worth it, for her. This was just further proof of how much he loved her.

Hermione stirred. "How was it?" she asked, half asleep.

"Fine." Draco wrapped an arm around her as she snuggled against his chest. "We're still here, so I didn't fuck things up, too badly."

"Hmm. I missed you."

Draco kissed the top of her head and whispered, "I love you."

"Love you," she murmured back and in a few seconds, was asleep again.

The next morning, Draco was standing in Hermione's small shower, holding an empty vase as he craned his ears, listening to Hermione walk around the flat. He wished he could see her face as she discovered each of the flowers he'd hidden for her. He also wondered if she'd caught on to what was going on yet. He stayed put, yawning as he waited for her to find him.

A few moments later, a small yellow bird wearing a note around his neck that said, Follow Me, flew into the shower. The next second, Hermione was opening the shower door.

"Oh!" she exclaimed when she saw him. "There you are!"

She was wearing her pajamas, holding a bunch of flowers, and beaming. Draco handed her the vase and she smiled even wider as she put her flowers in it. "Was that fun?" he asked, stepping out of the shower.

"Waking up to a little bird who showed me all the flowers you'd hidden around my flat? It was very fun but also…confusing?"

"What were you thinking as you collected these?" Draco motioned toward the vase in her hand.

"At first, I thought, this is a fun little scavenger hunt, then I realized you were pointing out all the spots of the flat I complain about. A flower in the window seat I wish I could extend with magic, another in the closet with the doorknob on the wrong side that drives me insane, one hovering in the spot on the wall where the door to the extra bathroom should be, but isn't. And of course," she motioned toward the shower. "The search ended at my least favorite spot. The shower that isn't a bathtub."

Draco smiled and pushed one of her curls out of her face. "You're right. This place is awful. So, why don't you move?"

"Move?"

Draco faltered, then forced himself to power through with what he'd prepared. "Move somewhere else, with me. We'll get a house nearby and we can make it exactly how you want."

"A house?"

Draco nodded. "A house."

She regarded him for several moments, then said, "She places her flowers on the vanity she wishes were two feet to the left, then steps into her lover's arms."

Draco smiled. They did this sometimes, narrated their actions. It was an inside joke that had come about a year or so ago, though Draco didn't remember how. He added to the narration. "She began playing with his hair as she considered his offer. Meanwhile, his heart beat rapidly as he waited for her response. She better not reject him. If she does, he'll die."

"Die? Oh dear. We can't have that." A slow smile crept across her face, then she kissed the underside of his jaw before saying, "Of course I'll move in with you, Draco. I thought you'd never ask."

A/N: The other side of this time jump was mentioned in Chapter 8.

As you can tell, the story is going to be a little jumpy from here on out. Sorry about that, but I just don't have the energy to completely re-tell Timeless. There are obviously enough differences to make this story feel unique, but they are still the same people with the same base insecurities and motivations and as they continue to grow together, I believe they'll eventually just turn into 2006 Draco and Hermione.

In my head, all timelines converge to summer 2006, and then things are mostly the same after that. So I'm going to spend the next several chapters showing you snippets from their life that get them to that future Draco/Hermione we know so well, then call it good. And I'll obviously resolve the few lingering side-plots.

Sorry for the strange pacing, where the beginning moved so slowly and now the final chapters will seem fast. But I hope you understand, since this was only ever meant to be a companion story, not a stand-alone one. Thanks for reading!