A/N: As I had predicted, nothing got done over the weekend. Really reminded myself that I am no longer 22. Here is a slightly longer than the norm chapter that kicks a few things off, just because I know that there won't be any updates until next Monday at the earliest, Tuesday at the latest. Maybe I'll be ambitious and drop three chapters next week? We'll see, for sure you'll be getting two and I'm bouncing in my seat for the surprise that's coming in chapter 8, gah keeping this secrete has been, woof.

More notes can be found at the end.

Chapter 7, Wales

Hermione had holed herself up in the Sirius Black Library, that was located at Grimmauld Place, pointedly ignoring the constant bothers that were Harry, Theo, and Aurora. After Harry and Theo had decided that they were going to move in together, Theo declared that he wasn't going to lower his living standards to living in such a rancid place. The portrait of Walburga Black had started shrieking more profanities at Theo while he laughed in her face letting her know that the home of the Great and Noble House of Black was going to sit empty until he got drunk enough to burn it to the ground with her stuck hanging on the wall.

It had taken a lot of pleading with him, but Hermione had finally gotten Theo to see reason to not burn the house to the ground when it had such an expansive library that people could benefit from. With that in mind, the renovations had begun to convert the entire house into a full library (by moving the Nott family library into Grimmauld Place as well) that was a private library that witches and wizards in different professions could make appointments to visit.

The first time that Hermione had brought Aurora to visit the library, Walburga had made the mistake of calling her a dirty half-blood with a filthy blood traitor father and mudblood mother. Without hesitation, Hermione flicked her wand at the offensive woman and put a permanent sticking charm on the curtains. To add insult to injury, Hermione had even woven in the Gryffindor crest onto the curtains to brighten the entrance hall up a bit.

The heads of Kreacher's ancestors had long been taken off the wall, as Theo had been violently ill from seeing them the first time he visited. The only thing he said was the Black family really and truly were the most fucked up family, ever.

The rest of the home had been re-decorated as a tribute towards Sirius. Gryffindor themed décor and furnishings, a large black dog on the wall running about playing with a stag and werewolf could be found anywhere wall was visible; even his original Auror's robes that Kingsley had unearthed were framed and hanging on the wall in one sitting room that was dedicated to Defense Against the Dark Arts literature. Pictures of Sirius' life were everywhere to be viewed, painting a full picture of the larger-than-life man that he had been before Azkaban. Harry had made a special sitting room dedication to Regulus and the hero that he had died as.

The section of the enormous library that Hermione had set herself up in today, however, was the original location where the Black family library had been. It was the same location in the house where the Black family tapestry had been left hanging on the wall. Well, to be completely honest, the tapestry couldn't be removed without destroying the entire room.

Knowing that the Malfoys, had a family tapestry that would have shown Aurora, after the girl's birth at the begging of May, Hermione had flown into London with Aurora in June. With the excuse that her baby needed to visit her godfathers for their first Father's Day, Hermione had been easily able to excuse her need to be in the country so soon after giving birth.

The fear of the family tapestries had driven Hermione to make a quick solo visit to check on the Black family tapestry at Grimmauld Place. Nervously, Hermione had approached it, knowing that there should be a line connecting Draco to Aurora after she was born. Hermione had put countless futile hours of research into pureblood family tapestries in hopes that she would be able to find an answer on how to hide someone on them. Alas, there was no such written instructions on how to alter nor create a tapestry.

To Hermione's great surprise, there was no lines at that time coming from Draco and connecting him to anyone else. She knew that Draco's wedding was set for some time at the end of June, so Astoria not being connected to him yet wasn't surprising, but not seeing his own daughter on the tapestry had confused her. Regardless of no answers, Hermione was satisfied with the lack of inclusion of Aurora on the wall.

Even though her curiosity told her that she needed to know the answer behind why Aurora wasn't shown on the tapestry, Hermione avoid the easiest way to find out. She could just ask Theo and he'd probably know the answer, but Hermione concluded that wasn't going to be the best course of action because Theo would want to know why she was asking questions about how the pureblood tapestries worked. That was not a question that Hermione was willing to answer.

So, here Hermione sat, studying about Ancient Greece and what it could be doing in Borgin's ledger, with her eyes occasionally drifting up to look at the blasted tapestry where she could see her daughter's father's connection to his wife with their bonding date, but clearly showing no children coming from him.

Speaking of, said child of Draco Malfoy, Aurora chose that moment to come bounding into where her mother was hidden behind stacks of books and parchment that she had been working on with her research. "Mummy, Uncle Harry said to say Uncle Theo says we need to go to the kitchen for lunch! Uncle Harry said to tell you Uncle Theo said it because you don't like listening to Uncle Harry when he's just looking out for you."

Hermione cocked a single eyebrow as she watched her daughter lift her heels off the floor in a feeble attempt to give herself some more height. The stuffed dragon she carried with her everywhere sticking out from under one arm while her pale pink summer dress swirled around her. The wild curls she had inherited from Hermione fell loose all the way to her waist, making the tiny girl look like she had just walked out of a fairy tale.

Hermione had only invited Theo to join them today because she was still irritated with Harry for being so thick headed and she still needed that buffer between her and her best friend. Every morning since their fight he had dropped off a lemon muffin to show her that he still loved her, even though he was angry with her for her refusal. Hermione did plan on talking with Harry today about their fight, it had been long enough that they should both be level headed enough to have a conversation without an argument. Well, that was as long as she had made some headway on her case (she had) and wasn't hungry.

"Do you know what's for lunch today?" Hermione asked the girl who was still raised on her tip toes and now swirling in slow circles.

"Oh yes, Uncle Theo made a fresh fruit bowl with honey dew because he knows that's my favorite. Uncle Harry brought a pitcher of lemonade because he knows that's your favorite. I think Uncle Theo said we're having cucumber sandwiches because Uncle Harry ate much too heavy this week at work." Aurora continued spinning while she rattled off the information that she had gathered from her uncles until she had made herself so dizzy, she was falling over.

"Alright, I'm at a good stopping place anyway. Come along, let's get washed up for lunch." Gathering the still unsteady Aurora in her arms, Hermione carried her down the stairs to the bathroom closest to the kitchen.

After letting Aurora wash her hands first, Hermione made quick work of her own hands and used a drying charm on herself and her daughter. Somehow, washing their hands had resulted in them both drenched.

Hermione let Aurora run ahead of her down the stairs and to the kitchen where she knew the men were waiting for them. Hermione had hardly nudged the door open before it was caught by Harry, who it looked like was trying to exit the kitchen.

"Hey."

"Hello." The tension between the two friends was thick, but this wasn't their first row. Anytime they would argue, one of them would say something that the other was against, pushing the other's boundaries, and then a week or less later they would come together for their apologies.

"I'm sorry." Harry was almost always the first to apologize, and this time wasn't any different.

"I am too, I know that you're just trying to look out for both myself and Aurora. I can respect how much you love and care for us both." Yes, Hermione truly did respect how much he looked out for them. Harry was the only person in Hermione's life who had never abandoned her. He was her steady, her constant, her brother.

"I should have respected that you don't want to frighten Aurora. I want to be proactive, but I realize now that putting a detail on the two of you isn't the answer. I know you're capable, but I couldn't live with myself if anything were to happen to either of you."

"I promise, if there's even a hint of danger where Aurora needs protection, I'll let you put a detail on her to keep her safe." Hermione couldn't stop the hand that reached out to her best friend. She had missed talking with him, and it felt like a weight was being lifted off her. When really, it boiled down to compromise, where Harry was concerned. He would work with her, but Hermione knew that she had to be willing to work with him too.

"You're not ever going to take a security detail for yourself, will you?" Even though he already knew the answer to the question, Harry just had to ask anyway.

"No, you already know that I'm not about to live in fear of a ghost of a threat. Dolohov had never actually approached me. I'm not going to start living in fear of him now when he hasn't even made contact with myself personally in over five years and the last threat made was to Viktor last summer."

With a shake of his head and a lite squeeze to her hand that he was still holding, Harry said no more on the topic. They filed into the kitchen where Theo and Aurora were already settled into their meals with their little finger sized sandwiches. Theo had cut Aurora's so that it was in the shape of a unicorn, since that was her favorite animal of the day.

Theo, who was getting the full rundown of the conversation from his husband's thoughts, gave a fleeting smile to the pair before turning back to his goddaughter, who had taken to scolding her dragon for trying to eat a unicorn (her sandwich). Hermione and Harry joined them sitting next to each other and fell into an easy conversation about the Borgin case and what she had discovered and what theories she had.

In her searching she had found a handful of potentially useful tomes that she would be taking home with her to hopefully crack the ledger, and be able to push forward with the other cases involved. She had left out that Draco had come by her office the day before, because really who needed to know about their fifteen-minute conversation? There was no point in dragging up a topic that they would all end up having to avoid and change anyway.

At least, that was Hermione's thought.

"Hermione, are you going to come over to Blaise and Gin's tonight? You never confirmed." Theo asked looking over the brim of his glass of lemonade.

"I was planning on it, mum and dad said that they didn't mind. I don't have their floo attached to my parents' though, so I'll need to come through yours." Theo's entire face lit up as if he had just been gifted Christmas early, effectively making Hermione's stomach drop.

"Perfect, Draco is going to be flooing over with us as well. The four of us can all go together, Pansy will be meeting us there with whatever flavor of the week she's decided to bring." At the mention of Draco's name, Hermione's eyes flashed to Aurora and back to Theo, hopeful that no one noticed.

"I didn't realize that you would invite," Hermione took a bit too long of a pause giving a fake cough because she did not like discussing a certain blond in front of her little blond, "Draco." She didn't know what game Theo was playing at, but Hermione couldn't help the warm feeling in the pit of her stomach. Damnit all to hell, the man is married and since being back, they hadn't exactly been on the friendliest of terms. They could work together easy enough, sure, but anything else was met with a cold wall from Draco.

No matter, it didn't bother Hermione if they were getting on well or not. She had to work with the man and figure out (sooner rather than later) how to break the news to him that he was a father. So, what if he'd been distant towards her and slightly cold? Hermione suspected, and with good reason knowing Draco's temper, that once she finally got around to telling him about Aurora that he would be much more than cold towards her. She was suspecting that he was going to be down right hostile, and she couldn't even blame him if he was.

"Oh, you see, anytime Draco and I meet for a quick drink I try getting him to tag along to our little Saturday soirees. Since that nasty business of his engagement a few years ago, Draco has been completely unavailable, that is up until this one when he agreed to come. I have no idea what could cause such a change of heart in the man." Theo's grin reminded her of the Cheshire cat, less like what and more like who could have caused this change of heart, Hermione read from that smile.

"Theodore, I'd prefer if we continued this conversation at a later time, if not just forget the entire thing all together." Hermione gave him a pointed look attempting to shut him up before Aurora's attention was taken away from the grapes (shocker, she likes grapes today) that Harry had charmed to circle her plate while she attempted to grabbed them to eat.

"Aurora, you can't be so cute all the time." Harry gushed at the blond as she cheered over the success of catching another grape.

Turning her big grey eyes to gaze up at her uncle, Aurora said, "but I want to" before popping the grape into her mouth.

ooo

Hermione was looking over herself in her full-length mirror just one last time. The white shorts hugged her arse in a way that made it look perfectly round and very delectable. A lite grey halter top was tight enough that it showed off her feminine curves, it was a nice enough outfit that if they did decide to go to a pub (very possible) that she wouldn't look like she had just been laying around her friend's flat drinking. Grabbing a pair of wedges and pulling them on, Hermione looked at her light brush of makeup with her smokey eye and the curls she let free to fall down her back.

She was officially ready to head out.

"Mum?" Hermione poked her head into her parents' bedroom to find Aurora and her mother already asleep under the blankets while a cartoon with ponies on the telly still playing in the background. Grabbing the remote, Hermione turned off the tube and slowly backed out of the room, blowing kisses towards the bed where the two laid.

Hermione walked down the stairs snagging her clutch off the banister as she went, before walking towards the sitting room where her father was still up reading a book. Hearing his daughter's entrance, Roger looked up with a soft smile. "I'm betting they're both already asleep and have taken up the entire bed?"

"They have, did you want me to move Aurora before I go?" Hermione asked checking the time on her watch, she was already running late, and honestly was making excuses to drag her feet a bit more. Maybe if she took long enough, she could floo right through Harry and Theo's flat and miss Draco all together.

"No, it's alright. I'll end up taking the guest room and let them sleep together." Another smile from her father did nothing to quell the nerves coursing through Hermione as she rocked on her feet.

"Are you sure you'll be alright until morning? I can floo call and let them know that I'm not going to be able to make it tonight?" Another glance at her watch told her that she was now ten minutes late.

"Hermione, go have fun with your friends. If you wait any longer…" her father was cut off with the fireplace bursting to life with green flames and a club ready Harry Potter stepping from the hearth. His button-down silk shirt was such a dark red that it looked almost brown had the top two buttons undone, then a pair of black trousers completed his outfit.

"Oi, Mione, what are you doing? Theo's went and opened a bottle of fire whiskey waiting on you. He's already had us to down two shots waiting for you." A cough from her father had Harry twisting around with wide eyes, clearly not having noticed her father when he'd first stepped into the sitting room. "Hello Roger, good to see you again." Harry said reaching out his hand for a quick shake.

Hermione didn't listen to the rest of the exchange between the men. Hermione had closed her eyes and began to count back from ten trying to settle her nerves before she went and spent the night with Draco. Married man, do not forget that he is a married man.

"Mione, Earth to Hermione Granger, hello? What's got your knickers in a twist? Let's go." Apparently, Harry had been trying to get her attention, and Hermione had been too busy lost in her own pep talk. "Come on then, Roger, I'll have her back to you in the morning in mostly one piece."

Hermione's head turned once more towards her father who just gave her a wink and a "have fun" before Harry drug her straight into the fireplace. Hermione and Harry were pulled into the emerald flames and before she knew it, she was looking into the face of Theodore Potter handing her a shot of fire whiskey.

"Out with you, Draco's coming through the floo." Hermione, with shot in hand, was pulled out of the fireplace by Harry just in time for the arrival of the blond lawyer.

Dressed in a white button down with the two buttons undone, the shirt was tight enough on him that his well-defined arms were clearly visible through the material. Lite grey trousers hugging his muscular thighs, and it was official, Draco looked mouthwatering. His hair was styled so that his fringe was pushed up and out of his face, the dusting of blond facial hair was enough to make Hermione feel the desire pool in her knickers, if she had to keep looking at him they would be completely ruined before the night was through.

Looking around, Draco's eyes rested on Hermione, making her breath catch in her throat. However, when he raised his left hand to run it through his hair ruined her forming wet dreams for her. Seeing that damned gold band on his ring finger had Hermione downing the shot Theo had handed her upon her arrival. Without her realizing, she scoffed at Draco, causing him to divert his gaze away from her.

"Awe, look, you two are matching. Perfect, husband more shots and then we are off to see Ginevra and the sexy Italian." Theo, who had clearly had much more to drink than the few shots Harry had told her, thrust two more fill shot glasses into each of Hermione's hands.

Hermione didn't even wait to hear if there was a toast or any other instructions before she threw back each in quick succession feeling the burning liquid make its way down her throat. Looking down at her outfit and back up at Draco, Hermione cursed herself because of course Theo was right. The two of them look as if they had coordinated their look for the evening, making this even more awkward.

"Back in the floo you go! Draco come with me, we've got, here it is. Ginny and Blaise's flat, Wales." Theo pulled a stunned looking Draco back into the hearth after finishing out a bag of floo powder from a black box sitting on the mantel. With a flash they were gone, leaving behind Harry and Hermione.

"One for the road?" Harry asked Hermione handing out one more shot of fire whiskey towards her.

Without thinking, Hermione grabbed the drink and hissed at the burn trickling down her throat. "I'm too old to drink like this." Hermione coughed after the shot.

"Non sense, we're only thirty, that's still plenty young. Now, off we go." Harry ushered Hermione into the fireplace and with a second woosh, they too were pulled away from the London flat.

Hermione felt a firm hand on her back pushing her forward to be engulfed by a wave of flaming red hair tackling her to the ground. Hermione's breath was forced from her lungs as she landed flat on her back, but before she could even attempt to get her bearings the woman on top of her started to fiercely shake her by her shoulders.

"YOU ARE AN UTTER PRAT HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER! HOW DARE YOU MOVE BACK INTO ENGLAND AND NOT TELL ME! I HAD TO FIND OUT FROM THE BLOODY PROPHET! YOU KNOW HOW YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE IT UP TO ME? YOU'RE GOING TO BUY ALL MY DRINKS TONIGHT!"

By the time Ginny was done yelling in her face, Hermione couldn't help the grin that spread across her face looking into her best girl friend's big brown eyes. Both women burst into tears of joy seeing each other for the first time in over eighteen months.

Ginny and Hermione had always made an effort to make sure that they stayed in touch, but between both their busy schedules, it hadn't been very easy to actually see each other regularly. It didn't matter though, no matter the time or distance, they were still close as they had been when they graduated Hogwarts together.

"And that's why we don't let red drink tequila. Granger, always an eventful reunion when you're involved." The dark-skinned Italian chaser was standing over Hermione, who was still laying flat on the floor, while Ginny straddled her. Blaise was looking down at the women on the floor of his flat with his bright smile showing as he laughed at his fiancé and her victim.

From her point on the ground, Hermione took a second to look at her soundings. It looked like she had flooed into a sports pub and not someone's sitting room. Blaise's retired rookie jersey from the Ballycastle Bats was framed and hanging on one wall. There were team pictures from over the years of all the teams that both Blaise and Ginny had ever played with, along with a few larger photos of them in action playing against each other. The dark green and gold Holyhead Harpies banner was hanging next to the mint and red Caerphilly Catapults banner behind what Hermione suspected was a fully stocked bar.

"And the party don't start till I walk in… the fuck, GRANGER? Why are Weasley and Granger laid out on the floor? Wait… GRANGER! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!" Hermione's view of the room was instantly blocked by another woman dropping down on top of her chest so that she was sitting in front of Ginny on top of Hermione.

Pansy Parkinson's moss green eyes and black hair were all that Hermione could see after once again having the breath knocked out of her. "You seriously let Rita fucking Skeeter write your welcome home piece? You owe me fucking big time." The angry woman hissed above her.

Pansy worked for Witch Weekly writing a "dear Pansy" column where writers could write into the magazine and Pansy would respond to their questions. It was mostly snarky comments and Pansy insulting the poor sods that would write into her. It was one of the most popular sections of the magazine.

"Well, that was a lot more entertaining than I thought it was going to be. By the way everyone, we're bringing Hemione tonight! Oh, I also got Draco away from the blond bimbo, CHEERS!" Hermione couldn't see him, but she could hear Theo shouting over her best girlfriends, who had turned to each other discussing in hushed whispers just how they were going to properly punish Hermione.

"Alright, come on Pans, Gin, up off Mione or we'll never make it to the pub." The weight of both women were pulled off Hermione, leaving Harry to bend over and help her to her feet.

Looking up into his face, Hermione squinted her eyes at her friend "you didn't tell them I was coming?"

Harry was nice enough to look guilty as he gave a shrug, "Theo thought it would be more entertaining if we didn't. I mean, he wasn't wrong."

Now that Hermione was on her feet, she got a full view of the room she was standing in. There were black leather couches and seats arranged for the furniture. The glass coffee table had been pushed out of the way, and a table had been set up for beer pong. The oak wood bar was lined with filled shot glasses of clear liquid, knowing Ginny they were probably filled with tequila. There were stools that matched the bar, but all four were currently occupied by a few people that Hermione knew were either Ginny or Blaise's teammates.

Harry had left Hermione's side to stand next to Theo, who was clearly already very intoxicated, swaying on his feet trying to challenge the four people at the bar to play never ever. Hermione couldn't help rolling her eyes at the cheater. He was only trying to pick people to play that didn't know he was a Legilimens.

"Not a cheater, Hermione Granger. I'm a strategist."

Rolling her eyes, Hermione scanned the rest of the room before her landing back on the blond who was in what appeared to be a deep conversation with Blaise next to the billiard table holding a two fingers drink each. As if she had said his name, grey eyes met brown for an instant before he turned so that his back was facing her while he continued speaking with Blaise, the latter giving her a look before effectively ignoring her as well.

"Looks like someone is still holding a grudge. As if he was the only person, you ran out on that morning." Pansy said walking up to Hermione, throwing her long straight black hair over her shoulder.

Hermione picked up one of the pre-poured shots from the bar and threw it back. Yup, it was tequila. Snagging a lime, Hermione bit down on the slice before she met Pansy's look. "I didn't run out, I left after we had a drunken threesome and went home to America. Excuse me for not realizing you both needed a cuddle and a talk after casual sex."

Pansy picked up a salt shaker, leading to both women licking their thenar so it could be coated in the salt. Lifting two shots each, Hermione and Pansy licked the salt from their hands before quickly drinking both shots and biting down on a lime slice.

"Not me, Granger. I'm good for a fuck and run. No need to romance me. Draco, however, well as you can see, he can hold a grudge. Now, let's get fucked up. Weasley said you're buying all our drinks at the pub to make up for that Rita business. I guess I can begin to forgive you for your treachery." Hermione took one more look over at the back of Draco's head and saw that he and Blaise were going shot for shot with one another, clearly trying to get totally pissed.

Pansy didn't even wait for Hermione to respond before sauntered off to join the two men in their drinking contest that Hermione was watching. With a huff, Hermione turned away from watching the Slytherin reunion and trekked over to the bar to get herself another drink. If she was going to be around a hostile Draco all night then she was going to be drunk.

Hermione ran into Ginny working behind the bar, who was in the middle of making a jug of some mix drinks for the group. Hermione grabbed one of the drinks she had just poured, and began to drink it. Sex on the beach, one of Hermione's favorites.

"Hey, I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was home sooner. I swear I wasn't trying to avoid you, it's just been really hectic with the move, buying a house, and getting started at work." Hermione explained to the red head while she finished pouring the rest of the glasses.

"I'm not actually mad, Pansy is though so you'll really have to buy her drinks tonight. I do wish I would have known though; I'd been waiting until I saw you in person, but I want Aurora to be my flower girl." It had much more to do with how much alcohol was currently in Hermione's system than her actual emotions, but the tears sprang right into Hermione's eyes as she shook her head yes.

"Of course, she will be your flower girl. YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED!" Hermione squealed with Ginny, jumping up and down together.

"There's a bridal party, party tomorrow afternoon at The Burrow by the way, bring Aurora." Hermione's smile froze on her face as this news was dropped on her. "WHO'S READY TO PARTY!" Ginny held up another shot off the bar while everyone cheered and finished off the drinks in their hands.

ooo

Hermione couldn't remember the last time that she'd been so pissed in her life. Apparently the same was true for Draco, because he'd gone from just trying to ignore her too now, he was being openly sarcastic and snarky towards her.

The group had migrated from Ginny and Blaise's flat to a muggle pub that was a short walking distance from their building. Ginny and Pansy had happily opened a tab with Hermione's credit card and had been true to their word that Hermione was paying for the majority of their drinks (the first few for Ginny and all for Pansy). Hermione was dreading what the total was going to be on her statement next month, there was no way she was going to get a good look at a receipt tonight.

Hermione had just ducked off the dance floor where she'd left Pansy snogging some muggle woman they'd just met and Ginny and Blaise basically dry humping each other. Harry and Theo had taken over a table with Draco and the three had continued their drinking games at the pub, while the other quidditch players had taken over the bar watching a football game on the telly overhead.

It was when she was exiting the loo that Hermione ran straight into the chiseled chest of Draco.

"You know, Draco." Hermione didn't know what had come over her (tequila), but she'd decided confronting his aggressive behavior was the best course of action to take with the man in this moment. "You can't still be mad at me for something that happened almost five years ago."

Draco, who was also properly pissed glared down his nose at Hermione. "Why would I care what you do, Granger? It was your choice to jump up and leave, just as it was your choice to ignore me after seeing each other at the ministry a few months later and then never speaking to me again until you were forced to because of work."

Hermione, who was seriously letting the tequila do the talking, glared right back at the man. "Oh yes, because I was going to keep correspondence with an engaged wizard. You don't get to judge me, Malfoy. We both made our choices and we have to live with it."

"You're the most infuriating woman I've ever met. Remind me, why we were ever friends again?" The poison of his words dripped right into Hermione forcing the heat in her face to flush as the anger rolled through her.

"Well, it's a good thing I left that morning, because I'd hate for you to have had to suffer being around me anymore." Hermione hissed at him, stepping closer so that now their chests were touching with her hands clenched in fists next to her sides. A thought crossed her mind, she should tell him about Aurora. Tell him why she never actually contacted him again.

Standing toe to toe, looking directly into his blood shot eyes, both Hermione and Draco's chests were heaving with their labored breaths. The adrenaline from their argument, making them both drive forward, when really, they should be stepping back.

"Fuck it," was the last thing she heard before Draco's hands were in her hair pulling her face closer to his. Once their lips touch, it was as if her entire body had been scorched. Hermione hands, on their own accord, snaked up until they were tangled in the hair at the base of his neck.

The kiss was punishing and bruising, not at all slow or sweet. All the pent-up feelings Hermione had been harboring for this man for the last five years came pouring off her onto his lips. When his tongue brushed against her lips, Hermione happily gave a sigh permitting him entrance. Draco's teeth grazed against her bottom lip, pulling a moan from Hermione, making her want his lips on more than just her own.

However, as quickly as the kiss had started it ended. Draco dropped his hands from her hair, stepping back and away from Hermione. With wide eyes, as if he was just realizing what had happened, Draco continued to back away from her.

"I'm sorry, that can't happen again. Have a good night, Hermione." With that, Draco disappeared from the dimly lit hallway they'd been standing in. Hermione was left in a daze, lifting her fingers to her lips, Hemione could feel how swollen they were after that kiss.

Well, shit. That's going to complicate a few things.

A/N: Well, now we've got a few questions answered, but more coming up. I told you that the answers to the tapestry are coming, just not yet. So learned that Draco and Pansy do indeed remember their threesome with Hermione, and Hermione not talking to them for a few years put some bad feelings there.

Question about the photo in Hermione's office, the answer is simply, Draco was in so much shock of just seeing Hermione that he didn't take in his surroundings at all. Side note, Theo being intoxicated made him not as perceptive to everyone's thoughts so he will not have picked up on THE KISS *squeals in Dramione fan girl*

I swear, one day I'll publish a non infidelity piece. Today is not that day, clearly *hides behind my hands*

One last note, the last bit of dialog between Harry and Aurora in this chapter is a direct quoted conversation that I had with my own 4-year-old. He said it and I just about dropped him it was so cute, just knew it would be something Aurora would say.

Happy American Thanksgiving!