Post-Hogwarts, year 2021 but characters are 28 and had no children

Draco/Hermione - has smut and language, not for the prudish or impatient :)

(Ships Harry/Ginny, Ron/Lavender, Blaise/Pansy)

Author note: Updating in September - Chapter 8 coming soon

Thanks for reading and please leave a review! :)

"And the newest member of the team, miss Granger," said one of Draco's team members, introducing a familiar face that Draco hadn't seen in quite some time. They were meeting in the London office as a meet-and-greet after-hours. Normally, Draco's commute involved apparating to London in from Tokyo.

Yet, he was surprised that Granger had popped up again in his life. She became a doctor? Unusual. Draco had amassed a business empire, finding Muggle medicine to be rewarding when aided by magic, though he knew it was illegal to do so without disclosure. That meant that he had to be a little dodgy when it came to treating Muggles. In fact, the doctor Hermione was replacing, unfortunately got caught by the Ministry and was forced to change hospitals.

Draco offered to take the fall for it, but the Ministry assured him that for a person NOT in the spotlight, it was just a slap on the wrist. His professional career wouldn't have suffered...but Malfoy, who had to actively avoid mention in The Daily Prophet and gossip columnists akin to Rita Skeeter, he would have struggled.

He recognized her unruly brown hair, now cascading over a white lab coat instead of a Gryffindor uniform. He knew Hermione was brilliant, and had always thought well on her feet, working well under pressure. She also looked damn fine in a lab coat-her dark, Latina skin making the white pop. So, emergency medicine suited her.

Her eyes grazed around the room of her new colleagues, smiling politely and uncomfortably in the spotlight. It took him back to her teacher's pet smile from the classroom, especially Lupin's.

Though, she'd kept her head down for Potions, silently enduring Snape trying her hardest NOT to annoy him. But in Binns' class - that godforsaken, learned-fucking-nothing class, she loved flaunting her knowledge. She dutifully took notes, front-row-center-Granger, sometimes being the only one who participated in discussion about some obscure, who-cares historical event that his mum told him about when he was nine.

Same with Transfiguration, although he had been stuck in the Slytherin/Hufflepuff class 6th year, so he uncharacteristically asked McGonagall to transfer to the Ravenclaw/Gryffindor. He had to, for one, get away from the dreadfully dull Hufflepuffs - who just wanted to turn each other into cute, small animals-but he didn't much want to be around the Slytherins at that point, either. The only person he could stand was Zabini, and he was really only focused on trying to hook up with girls. And then there was Parksinon, of course, but even by sixteen they had mixed feelings toward one another.

Draco was more of a second-to-third row kind of student. He paid attention, but he wasn't trying to show off that he was smart. He preferred to tailor how he presented himself to people so he could exert more power. In that vein, he favored friends who would just let him boss them around… Pansy, for one. Zabini being the exception.

Underneath her lab coat was a glossy, beige blouse. Her hair was bushy and unstyled as he remembered, curly and textured and natural, and it looked better on her mature face. And, by now it appeared as though she embraced it, treating it as sexy rather than something to tame or control. Overall, Granger's cheeks were less round and youthful, and she had less of a prudish vibe.

Draco immediately knew he wanted to, at a strict minimum, flirt with her. Harmlessly, of course.

"Welcome, I'm surprised no one told me before today that Hermione Granger was to be employed at St. George's, but here we are."

Granger looked just as surprised, if not a little mortified. "Right!" she laughed forcefully. "Well thanks for the warm welcome with the - you know…" here she awkwardly gestured to the food, decor, and presence of physical people. "I know sometimes it's hard to appa - I mean, get - out of the house."

Draco smiled, eating up her sincerity and awkwardness. He loved that he was making her a little nervous. "I'm so glad to have you, and Emergency Medicine should be glad to have your mind on this, Hermione. I'm a little disappointed I didn't get to interview you myself for the position...who knows if I would have been as easy on you." he said darkly, smiling, like he was an actor playing the part of a high-ranking doctor who actually was a wizard pretending to be a Muggle. In which, he pretty much was. However he acted, it was with an awareness that Hermione could see right through it. Especially when Draco had to reference her by her first name, instead of the wizarding cultural norms to use last names only, as a formality.

Hermione's heart pounded within her chest, not believing Draco Malfoy was in the same room as her again. Her career was just starting in Muggle medicine - she completed a short residency last year. While at first she had wanted to be a researcher, she couldn't resist the immediacy. She guessed the calling was probably why she was sorted into Gryffindor - she liked the high-risk nature of it.

Then again, her interest in becoming a doctor in the first place WAS sparked because she had read about Draco Malfoy in articles online. Ever since then, she was a little more than just casually interested. Being the CEO and a board-member for his family's various companies, he was famed in the business world. And, her obsession was sparked by the first photo she had seen of him online. For 'Fortune' he had done an interview and photoshoot… his sharp features from youth remained, but they fit his mature face better, making him look serious and dignified rather than a weasel.

And that had launched into her mild case of crazed-fandom of Draco Malfoy. Her friends teased her and called her a stalker - she followed every fan account on Instagram, regularly compared him to other attractive men she saw. "Well, he's no Draco Malfoy…" she joked, which had irked Ginny and Harry.

But it wasn't just his physical appearance that she was attracted to. Draco... she figured, had a bit of an ego. He liked to be interviewed and photographed. He frequently would guest on podcasts and do interviews with the press on his businesses and real estate. He was articulate, well-spoken, and funny. Often he was even self-deprecating to his privilege and the lucky hand he was dealt. Hosts loved to interview him as he made their jobs incredibly easy - being comfortable on camera and in the spotlight.

All this to say, even though Hermione was a huge fangirl of Draco's...she didn't actually think this job would get her to meet him on her first day. Draco fucking Malfoy's office was right there, and he was standing in front of her, looking like his eyes were feasting on her appearance.

After he dished out his appropriate gestures of corporate politeness, Draco went into his office. He decisively felt calm and excited that Granger would be under his command. But, he was prepared for her to come find him...he knew she wasn't going to be shy with this.

The room was calming to whatever nerves she had rattled, though. For the real estate of London, the office was generously spacious, with floor to ceiling glass windows and a wide variety of plants. Draco's favorite feature about the room was that it had one-way windows to the rest of the floor. While people couldn't see in his office, he could observe everyone else. A reverse fish tank.

He poured one glass of firewhisky and readied a second for when she would come in. He sipped it, staring at his computer's desktop, unsure of what to do. Sitting at his desk, he checked his phone, in which he was inundated with messages from the various women he was seeing. He was sick of models-too vapid, dumb. The musicians were too fickle, and wanted to drink too much and talk about themselves. The actors and comedians were his favorite to fuck casually. They smoked a little weed, drank a little, were good conversation, and ended the evening with nice, satisfying fuck. Afterward, they'd be down to just watch television and hang out, which is exactly what he wanted to be doing with his time, anyway.

He had to go through, mentally, what was going to happen now that Hermione had entered his life again. Inevitably, this complicated his life. He had baggage, and she carried it easily, probably able to talk about things he struggled to forgive himself for. He remembered her screams as Lestrange had tortured her. It was haunting to him, but it was a horrifying sound in a sequence of terror that Draco endured. To put it bluntly, his adolescence had *really* fucking sucked.

Needless to say, to stay a happy person, Malfoy decided to do whatever he could to avoid Potter and Weasley up to this point. As his therapist said, his childhood was full of manipulation, abuse, and confusion about who to trust and believe. Hence why thousands of dollars have been thrown at therapists to help him cope with his deep-rooted distorted views of people.

So, as interesting it was that Granger was back in his life, he wasn't going to let her presence undo work of mental health. He wouldn't let it happen.

After all, it was only this year he managed to stop constantly smoking weed while he wasn't working. It was how he was coping with Astoria's death. He needed to keep composure.

"Hi," a gentle voice came from the doorway. Hermione's face appeared in the crack. "I really don't want to intrude, but I just wanted to talk to you."

He smiled, standing up quickly. "No, please come in, Granger. Have a drink with me. We can grab someone else, like Taylor, if you'd be more comfortable."

"No!" she said too quickly. "I'm not uncomfortable, Malfoy. I'm excited to...it's good-to see you," she said, stuttering a little and smiling. God, she was attractive, Malfoy thought as he saw her physical form in his actual office. Two worlds colliding.

"Let's have a drink in here, so we can talk, you know, about our stuff."

He wasn't sure if "our stuff" meant the Wizarding world, or, like their personal history. This included, but was not limited to: her punching him in the face, turning him into a ferret, and all of the times he was a snitch. And then the minor detail of becoming a Death Eater, and all that.

He sat at his desk, and she sat across from him. "Just so you know, Teresa's a witch too. She's one of the nurses."

Hermione sighed with relief. "Thank god there's at least one person. It's hard sometimes, not slipping up and saying something they're not supposed to know."

He murmured understandingly, pouring two generous pours in crystal glasses. They were antiques from his father's side, and he knew that if Hermione knew the manufacturer, she wouldn't be pleased that he still had them as they might be rooted in anti-Muggleborn history and sentiment. "I hope you like firewhisky. Or I can grab us a couple butterbeers," he offered.

"Firewhisky, please," she said, looking like she was trying not to smile. She seemed to be enjoying his company, he thought. She seemed actually cheerful and happy to be with him.

They clinked glasses and took a drink. He thought "Kampai!" in his head, from living in Japan, but didn't say anything, of course. He thought of Pansy, who enthusiastically exclaimed "Kampai!" every chance she's got.

Hermione coughed, wincing. "Wow, that's got quite a kick."

He laughed. "Yeah, it's not messing around." He looked at her more seriously. "It is weird to see you here, Granger. After all this time. It's rare for a witch or wizard to do Muggle medicine. Especially weird that it's us two, here."

"Yeah. You probably thought I'd be in the Ministry as an Auror or something. Or a professor, teaching History of Magic."

He smiled, but shook his head. "Honestly, I didn't really have an opinion of what you'd do," he said. Although she remained smiling, Draco could tell it stung a bit. Seeing this, he tried to backtrack quickly. "I mean, I just knew you'd be fine. I was worried about my future. I … didn't have the best time in school. Other than Quidditch."

"All I know is...I wish every person I knew at Hogwarts didn't fucking love Quidditch," she said lightly. "Ron, Harry, Ginny, you. Fred, George. Krum…" she said with a sigh, then adding quickly, "I remember Neville trying out every year."

"Gryffindors, I guess, wanting to be bold and daring. It was rare that Slytherins would even bother with it, if they didn't get an advantage out of it, you know?"

"I'm sure you got some sort of advantage out of it. Didn't it help you get girls, or whatever?"

Draco smiled coyly. "Oh, I don't think I needed any help with that."

Hermione laughed. "Oh my god, shut up."

"Out of curiosity…" Draco began cautiously. "Are you and Ron still together?" he asked, hoping that the idiot was completely out of her life. The last thing Draco wanted was to be required to attempt an intelligent fucking conversation with Ron Weasley. He didn't have the bloody energy.

"Nah," she said, taking a drink immediately, wincing at the burn. "He's with someone else now."

There was a moment of silence.

"When'd that happen?"

Hermione looked a little nervous when she talked about it, and it turned Draco on. He loved seeing her squirm a little, but due to their professional relationship, she had to answer his questions. "Ron got back together with Lavender. He cheated on me. For like a couple years. So I've been mostly on my own, you know? Ginny and Harry got married and I can't really afford my own place so I live with them. I'm used to third-wheeling." Instantly, Hermione regretted mentioning her finances. Sometimes she forgot how stupidly wealthy Draco was. The Malfoy empire had its claws in the Wizarding world so deep that she reckoned Lucius's great-great- grandchildren wouldn't have to work a day in their lives.

Draco felt a brief, yet powerful rage at Weasley for choosing Lavender over Granger. Though, the validation was immediate - he always knew he was a moron, now it was proven. Sure, Lavender was fuckable… but Draco wanted to be with someone someone with brains. Maybe in his teens, he would have preferred the intensely sexual, confident and airy girl over someone he wants to actually have a conversation with. But they were 28 now, and he was more interested in who he was fucking than just needing to get off.

"That sounds...kind of nice, actually," Draco said, genuinely. "I still hang with Blaise, we're roommates."

While Hermione had a tough time believing that Draco Malfoy would ever have a roommate, she still nodded politely.

He continued, "And Pans and I stay in touch. She lives in Tokyo as well. But everyone else kind of disappeared. The Slytherins got messed up after the war and everything. You know, it was a weird time. Our families were in jail or trying to figure out what to do. I went on trial, of course," he said. "I was 18. I ended up staying at Hogwarts that summer, on sort of house arrest with some of the other Slytherin students whose parents supported Voldemort…"

Hermione gasped. "Really?"

He nodded, not sure if he should mention how Voldemort had tortured him when his assassination attempts had failed. She had had enough to worry about in those times, it probably just slipped her memory. "It was all sorts of fucked up," he said, trying to conclude the subject.

Hermione felt the initial buzzing of the firewhisky. "I'm sorry. I - "

Malfoy interrupted her coldly. "You don't say you're sorry. You were doing what's right; I'm the one who needs to apologize. I was a coward."

She nodded, silently. He wished there wasn't an entire desk between them, he wanted to be closer to her. So much closer.

"While we're on bad subjects, I-um, I'm sorry about Astoria. So unfair that she died so young." Hermione studied her drink, unable to meet his large, grey eyes as she said this.

He gave her a thankful smile. "Thanks, Granger. But don't worry, even after all these valuable 'life lessons,' I'm still the same asshole you punched in the face."

She laughed, genuinely. "God that felt so good."

"I bet it did," he said, laughing too. He liked being with her… he was worried that it'd feel bad if he started recounting memories with her, but it actually felt okay. Like she didn't hold anything against him.

A smile toyed on her lips. She stood up to move around the room, the office's views of London at night too stunning not to see closer.

She walked over to the edge of the room, looking out into a famous street in London. "Well, for the record, I had hoped you were kind of the same. It'd be disappointing if you were a total good guy now."

Draco couldn't help but laugh, wanting to show her how, precisely, he wasn't entirely a good guy.

His brain was overeager to begin playing out how it would start, he wanted to approach her slowly, making her nervous about what he's going to do next. Then, he'd get so close to her that she couldn't possibly mistake his intentions. He'd test her, see if she'd initiate contact or if he'd need to take charge. All of this was presuming it was a precursor to making her beg for his cock, and he'd end the night fucking her so well that she screamed his name as she came. That all being said, he'd show her how he hadn't totally lost his mean streak. He'd still enjoy making her do what he wanted.

Needless to say, this train of thought meant he was starting to feel the firewhisky quite a bit as well.

"So, why are you here?" she said, and he was initially caught off-guard by the question.

"Well, back to unfortunate subjects," he said, sipping his drink. The caramel liquid was the same warm color as Hermione's skin, and he got lost in the color for a moment. "They didn't use magic on Astoria. Her blood malediction was slow, then sudden-we were on vacation and the doctor was a Muggle. There weren't wizards around to help her. Hence why I'm here," he said, simply. He didn't want her sympathy-oh god, no-but for whatever reason, he wanted her to know that he'd changed.

But even so, he didn't want to share everything about his life with Granger. Though he truly didn't think she was less of him as a person because of her Muggle heritage, he knew that there were certain things about his life and culture that she wouldn't approve of.

Like how his parents still had house elves, how they - and people like them, even his peers - still wanted to use dark magic to control Muggles. The reasons behind why were complex, but that was a simple fact.

But surely she was aware of the prejudices of his family, and the old pureblood families. Why did she care to talk to him, then? Then maybe it was only because of her personal interests - he was, after all, extremely famous and well-connected.

Hermione winced on another sip of firewhisky, not making much progress but still feeling the drink. "Right, I heard about Astoria's incident when I interned with Kingsley at the Ministry."

Draco knew that she was training to be an Auror, but didn't know many details. "You were working with Shacklebolt?"

"Yeah. He was crazy-talented. I could barely keep up with him. You probably don't like him much, right?" she asked.

"I don't have any hard feelings, really. With everything that happened, the wizarding world has a lot of problems, and my family got caught up in it all."

Hermione felt embarrassed. She really did have no idea what Malfoy went through, or even Slytherin house as a whole.

"Anyway, I don't want to throw a pity party. You and I have our differences...we come from different worlds. Now I found myself in yours, a Muggle hospital. I may have a medical degree, but I have to tell you, Granger...I don't practice traditional medicine. I don't follow all the laws, here."

Hermione's eyes widened. "You have to disclose if you're using magical medical practices."
"But it's against the law to mention magic to Muggleborns! So what's the bloody point? I'm willing to take that risk to save someone's life. The person you're replacing just moved to a magical hospital after they were caught. It's fine," he explained, wanting to reassure her.

She took another drink, almost enjoying the burning on her tongue at this point. Though there was still a lot of liquid left, and she was already feeling it. "I was hired to practice Muggle medicine on Muggles. Period, end of story," she stated. "And that's what I'm going to do. You can't use magic on people without their consent, and it's for the best if Muggles don't know the wizarding world exists. That's the purpose behind the laws. It's just how it goes, I'm sorry."

Draco looked stunned. "What? But magical science is much more effective, not as painful…"

"Not as researched and tested. You know the studies, Draco - magical science isn't predictable, which means it's not better than Muggle medicine. Only knowing one - and actually practicing it - is fraud."

"Are you accusing me of fraud, Granger?" Draco said icily. "Do you want to lose the job you just started, or are you going to trust that I know what I'm doing?"

Hermione set the glass down on his desk and stood up angrily. "Don't fucking threaten me, Malfoy. I'll keep my mouth shut for now… but know that I've got my eye on you to make sure you know what you're doing here. You may not think that rules to protect Muggles are important, but they still fucking apply to you." Hermione wanted to calm herself so her face wouldn't get red and hot with anger. But she was failing… in familiar ways. As she remembered, Draco knew how to push her buttons, how to drive her a little crazy.

As a retort, Draco knew what he wanted to say in this moment - but the problem was, he had no idea what she would do as a reaction. What if she quit on the spot? Or would she be into it like he suspected?

Too curious at her reaction, he decided to go ahead and just say what he wanted. "Someone certainly thinks she knows who she's talking to." He stood up and moved around the desk so he was standing in front of her. His tall, yet lean frame came across as domineering to her without being physically threatening. But it walked the line.

Draco continued. "I will be the one keeping my eye on you, Granger," he said softly. Brushing her fingertips with his own, he took the rest of her firewhisky glass out of her hand and downed it, slowly swallowing it without even wincing at its burn. He didn't break her eye contact, and he loved to see her flush with anger at him. It always got his blood pumping a little bit. His mind started to wander about what he'd like to do to her on this desk...

Hermione was silent, studying both of his grey-blue eyes. She wanted to take a step and move closer to him, but she didn't know what she would do in the moment after that. What if he made a move… on her first day? She felt ashamed of all the saved photos of him from fan accounts on her profile.

She had always been so responsible, for literally every instance of her entire life. Today...this moment, was one of the first times she actually didn't want to do the right thing. She wanted Malfoy to kiss her...to take her clothes off, lift her onto the desk.

She knew what she wanted to happen.

But, Hermione did what she knew she should do. Mentally, she untangled herself from his embrace.

"I'm sorry, I should get back to everyone," she said politely as she possibly could.

Draco didn't react, but remained composed and said, "Sure, see you later," non-cheerfully. He returned to his office chair and sat, returning his attention to his computer like he had more important things to be doing. He didn't want her to think he actually cared what she did.

After his office door quietly shut, he almost growled in frustration. "Fuck." he said to the empty office. He was burning with desire and tension, and watched her walk away from him and rejoin the party. Even through her lab coat, he could tell that Granger had developed the perfect ass since he last saw her. He knew what he wanted to do… but he didn't know if he should. She still lived with Harry fucking Potter. But, the good news was, Ron wasn't in the picture.

Frustrated, he texted Blaise about it immediately. "Granger was just hired on my team," he wrote.

Zabini quickly replied, "She still hot?"

Draco looked out into the common space from his office. She already had another drink and was laughing with a group of young doctors, one of them already looking at her like he was in love.

Draco poured himself another drink and typed back to Blaise, "Unbearably so."