Thank you everyone for the follows and favourites!

I hope everyone is staying safe at the moment!

I really hope you enjoy this chapter. x

Stay safe, lots of love and for Merlin's sake wash your hands!

xzoex

Fifteen minutes later found them both standing in front of a blank expanse of wall.

"I can't believe we're doing this." Hermione hissed, her fingers twisting together nervously. She glanced at Draco beside her, "I can't believe you suggested this."

"Lighten up Minister, It'll be fine! I'm inviting you after all."

Hermione's face creased up into a frown, her lips pursing in an almost McGonagall type expression. "We're going to get into trouble."

Draco turned to her wide-eyed, his eyebrows shooting upwards. "You literally broke into Gringotts."

Her face flushed and she glared at him with a pout. "It's not the same. What if a teacher catches us?" She whispered, eyes darting about guiltily.

Draco couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you telling me, that you would rather get caught by a horde of angry bank workers, made up of mostly goblins with sharp objects, than face a Hogwarts teacher?"

She shifted from foot to foot, "Shut up."

"Hermione Granger, War Hero, Minister, Master thief and vault cracker, who literally blasted out of the highest security bank in the world on the back of a rabid dragon…"

"It wasn't rabid."

Draco ignored her interjection, "is scared of getting a detention?"

Hermione visibly bristled next to him, "I'm not scared."

"I don't know what you are worrying about personally, as I said earlier, I'm inviting you, so it's fine!" He clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes.

"But…"

"Draco Malfoy, bringing Hermione Granger," He winked at her, "Runespoor".

The wall vanished, and Draco confidently marched ahead of Hermione into the dark tunnel.

Hermione hovered for a moment on the threshold of the rough stone passage, Draco's call of 'come on Granger' echoed from within.

Oh this was ridiculous, squaring her shoulders Hermione boldly strutted after Draco. "Act like you belong, and it'll be fine." She whispered to herself.

Heat travelled over her body as she emerged from the passage, like sinking into a warm bath, but with little sparks of magical residue left behind.

"Welcome to Slytherin common room!" Draco announced grandly, sweeping his arms to the sides. "Not many people get invited in, you understand, so you should feel pretty special."

Hermione blinked slowly, eyes travelling across the green-lit room. This was certainly different from how Harry and Ron described it. The floor seemed to radiate heat, seeping into her body. The large fireplace was beautifully ornate, gothic in style with carved serpents twisting across it. Large leather sofas and chairs were clustered around low tables; some with chess sets on them.

Hermione's breath caught in her throat as her eyes were drawn to the windows. Oh those windows! They opened onto the lake itself.

Approaching the glass slowly, Hermione watched in fascination as large strips of seaweed drifted in the low light. Little schools of fish darted back and forth, glinting silver as they caught the light from the lamps.

It was like being in a peaceful aquarium.

Placing a hand against the glass, which was warm to the touch, Hermione turned round and beamed at Draco, "It's beautiful."

Draco spluttered slightly, he must have been talking. Turning a bit pink, he cleared his throat.

"Of course it is, honestly, do you think we'd stay down here if it was damp and dingy? Now stop your loitering and come on!"

He briskly spun around and practically stomped across the room, before heading down a side corridor.

Taking another glance across the common room, which was blessedly empty, Hermione let out a sigh and followed after Draco.

Honestly, what on earth were Ron and Harry going on about in second year? There wasn't even a single skull in sight, boys…

Draco's dorm room was much the same style in décor, shades of green, dark wood and beautiful tapestries glinting with gold thread.

He moved to the end of the long room, throwing his bag onto what must be his bed. Dropping onto his knees quickly he started rummaging around in the black trunk at the foot of the four-poster.

Hermione ran her hands along the dark green velvet of the bed curtains, letting out a low whistle. "This is fancy."

Draco shot her a glare, "The Gryffindor dorms have curtains too, in case you've forgotten, and I did have a full tour."

"Well yeah, but…" Hermione picked at the shimmering tapestry on the wall, "golden artwork?" She raised an eyebrow at him smirking. "Velvet curtains, and let me guess," she slid her hands along the duvet before dragging it back to poke at his bed sheet, "is this Egyptian cotton?"

Holding back laughter, she watched his face flush as he mumbled something, ducking down and resting his head against the trunk.

"What was that Draco? I didn't hear it over the sound of your expensive bedding." She snorted.

He let out a long sigh, before sitting back and sulkily meeting her eyes.

"The," he waived his hand round airily, "décor was done by Slytherin, but… um the, my bed I mean…" He grimaced, running a hand down his face. "Dobby does mine."

"What?" she laughed, slapping a hand to her mouth, another snort escaped.

Draco flopped to the floor, his arm thrown over his eyes. "I didn't ask him too!" he proclaimed, before grumbling, "He never did it before!"

"Treating people with common decency will get you that Draco." Hermione said with no little amount of self-satisfaction.

"So glad to have redeemed myself in your eyes," he drawled sarcastically from the floor.

Hermione sat gently on the end of his bed, and leaned over the open trunk lid to look at him firmly, "no redemption necessary."

He lifted his arm slightly to look at her with one eye, before huffing and pushing himself upright. "Alright… alright, less of that." He shuffled back to the trunk and pushed down firmly on the wooden base inside.

There was a solid clunk, followed by the soft rasping of wood sliding.

Hermione peered curiously down and watched as the inside of the trunk slid down before shunting back to reveal another level below it.

"Sneaky" she hummed appreciatively.

Draco huffed a laugh, "wasn't sure it'd still work for me, you know?"

"Why not?"

"Oh, um it's linked to my magical signature," he waived his hand in the air flippantly, "thought it might not recognise me, you know, what with us being…" He seemed to struggle for the correct wording.

"Magically more advanced?" She offered chuckling.

"Yeah, lets go with that; pass my bag would you?" He held his hand out expectantly, quirking the side of his mouth up in a cheeky grin.

Gingerly picking up the strap, Hermione flicked the bag into Draco's waiting hands with a sniff. "Your bag Sir."

"Why thank you Minister."

"Pleasure."

Sending her a quick glance, Draco carefully pulled the ornamental box out.

Hermione could feel the air getting grittier, with a sort of sliminess that traced across her skin. She shuddered, wrapping her arms round her body.

Draco's eyes flicked to her at the movement, but instead of commenting, he quickly dropped the box into the trunk and rapped his knuckles sharply on the inside.

The original inside of the box slid back into place with a grating whisper. Hermione and Draco let out synchronised shaky breaths.

"That was gross." Draco said lightly, dropping the lid of the trunk down.

"Yeah," she agreed. "You sure it'll be safe in here? Horcruxes have a way of affecting people, I don't want anyone to get hurt." Hermione spoke softly, holding Draco's gaze.

He seemed to consider her question seriously, his eyes darting to the right as his eyebrows drew down.

"Yes," he spoke firmly, nodding. "This trunk," he patted it, "was designed to smuggle dark artefacts, so it has a very strong containment spell. No dark magic is leaking out of this, you can take my word on it."

And didn't that just open up a whole load of other questions, that she really didn't need answers to.

Not even a little curious.

Not one bit.

Draco grinned as he watched her, his eyes crinkling. "Go on Minister, ask. You know you want to."

"Why is your school trunk designed to smuggle dark objects? Is that standard for pureblood households? Or is it just a Malfoy tradition to send first years to school with the intent of smuggling?"

A sudden thought raced across her mind and she practically bounced in place.

"Is this how you snuck the necklace and poison in during sixth year? Oh… um sorry."

"It's okay, yes it was actually." He was still grinning at her. "But before that I used it to hold a secret stash of cursed books and firewhisky." His wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Hermione breath caught in her throat, "rare books were they?" she asked with affected nonchalance.

"Uh huh, some were personal work journals of potioneers and runic experts." He crossed his arms on top of the trunk and placed his chin on them. "Nasty curses protecting them, but a wonderfully invaluable studying resource."

He was laughing at her; she could see it in his eyes… and his shit-eating grin.

"Any names I might know?"

"Maybe"

"Git."

She frowned at him and he laughed delightedly.

"Morgana le fey and Linfred of Stitchcombe are two examples, the Malfoy library is very extensive and I'm sure there are others even I haven't read yet."

"You're bringing me those,"

"Am I now?"

"Yes, and I expect more to follow."

He laughed again, "I think you just want me for my library!"

Hermione pursed her lips and looked away, holding back a smile. "Maybe…"

"Oh my poor heart!" He exclaimed in jovial tones, his smile getting wider.

"Oh shush," She could feel her face heating up, so she flicked the side of his head. "Git."

He continued to stare up at her, tilting his head to the side, silly grin on his face. He looked like a puppy.

"Cute." She muttered.

His smile dropped slightly, "I am not cute."

"Adorable."

He huffed "I shall accept adorable. BUT" he raised one finger to the air, "only because my son was equally as adorable in first year."

Hermione hummed in agreement. "I did think that when I first saw him on the platform. 'Brilliant,' I thought 'another little Malfoy for my kids to excel over in school'."

Draco snorted, burying his face in his arms.

"Thank goodness this one was less of an arsehole then you were. I'd only heard good things about him from Albus and meeting him in person… I've got to say I was more than a little surprised."

"Yeah, takes after his mother that way." He said softly.

"Not just his mother Draco, after you pulled that broomstick out your arse, you weren't too bad."

"What a compliment…" Draco deadpanned "Draco Malfoy, not too bad." He shook his head; "it's a wonder you became Minister with people skills like that."

Hermione laughed, allowing herself to fall back onto the bed. "Oh that was the easy part!"

"How so?"

He was trying not to sound too interested, but she could hear him moving closer to sit on the trunk. A quick glance confirmed that he was eagerly leaning towards her, look of open curiosity on

his face.

"I just bring he-who-is-our-saviour to everything and release him onto the crowd, best endorsement a woman can get. Everyone was practically falling over themselves to offer support."

"You sneaky… that's so… manipulative… underhanded…" His face had gone splotchy and pink as he spluttered.

"Stop it Draco, I'll blush" she winked at him.

He glared at her.

"The difficult part was trying to curtail the decrepit Wizengamot, it was worse than Harry in sixth year. Everything was like trying to pull teeth without anaesthetic; they really didn't like being told what to do by a witch, especially a muggleborn. Old miserable bastards."

"What happened in sixth?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow, in her best 'are you serious?' manner.

"Obviously I know what happened in sixth!" he huffed, "but what was wrong with Potter? I mean aside from the usual?"

"Oh he thought you were up to something,"

"Which I was."

"And he spent his every waking moment following you around."

"He did what?" Draco's face had turned sharply pink again and his mouth was hanging open.

"Oh yeah, he wore his cloak most the time…"

"That fucking cloak."

"And when he couldn't follow you in person, he watched you on the map."

"That fucking map!"

"And when you vanished from the map, I had to listen to his whining that he couldn't find you, it was one of the most excruciating experiences of my life. I love Harry, I truly do, but I wanted to strangle him more than once that year."

"I knew there was someone there! That creepy little stalker!" He exclaimed hotly.

"He was right of course, I've learnt to trust his instincts on most things now. Or did, before… all this shit happened." She waved her hand vaguely.

"You're condoning his stalking of my person?" Draco asked disbelief etched onto his face.

"Oh don't act all high and mighty, you were a suspicious little shit and you know it." She laughed at him.

"Fine… yeah, no… you're right of course. Not my best sneaking, I'll admit. I was under an inordinate amount of stress; I'll ask you too remember. All my future misdeeds were much more subtle."

"I believe you."

"Stop laughing at me." He whined, tapping at her foot.

"I can't believe you are upset that I don't think you're sneaky enough." She full on giggled at him.

"Oh shut it Minister."

Hermione pushed herself up on her forearms to look at him, face splitting into a grin. "You know Draco…"

The door slammed open bouncing off the walls with a large crash.

Draco and Hermione shot to their feet, dropping into defensive stances their wands poised to attack and defend respectively.

Stood frozen in the door way was Blaise, his eyes travelled across them both before flicking to where Hermione had been sitting on Draco's bed.

Heart beating rapidly in her ears, Hermione shakily lowered her wand motioning for Draco to do the same. Now that she was aware there was no danger, her body had decided that now was the time to become a traffic light. Her face flushed with heat as Blaise raised an eyebrow.

The boy shook his head slightly before making a beeline for her.

"Alright Blaimuplhuhhh" Draco's words were shoved back into his mouth by Blaise's hand, as he pushed Draco to the side, by his face.

"Hermione!" Blaise exclaimed, "I've been looking for you everywhere!" He put an arm round her shoulders and swept her from the room.

"You have?" She glanced back at Draco who watched her vanish with wide eyes.

What on earth was happening? Hermione didn't remember her and Blaise being this friendly.

"Of course! Draco mentioned that you weren't at lunch, an absolute travesty if you ask me!"

"It is?"

"Oh yes," he nodded solemnly, guiding her into a now rather full common room. "You missed a quite excellent display, let me tell you!"

There was a sudden stillness in the room as Blaise dragged her to where the other first year Slytherins were perched on a group of low sofas.

Eyes wide Hermione took in the focused interest of the older students as she was plonked into a chair next to Pansy who looked at her with surprise.

Blaise, continued as if this was perfectly normal, "And not only did it sprout bubbles, but they turned into animal that are still floating about in the hallways!"

"Don't take this the wrong way Granger," Pansy said, "but how did you even get in here?"

"The ones that McGonagall missed anyway, boy was she pissed. Quirrell then exploded slime all over the head table" Blaise continued, unaware of all the eyes upon their little group.

"Um, Draco invited me in?" she hedged, eyes darting across the room.

There was a pause, then the eyes slid from Hermione as students went back to what they were doing. The little group of first years collectively sighed, as though that explained everything.

"Well that's alright then." Pansy said with a nod.

"Alright then?" The entire Slytherin dorm had just completely dismissed her, because she had been invited in?

"And that's not even the best part!" Blaise exclaimed jumping up from his perch on the arm of Hermione's chair. "He then went sliding and screeching from the hall, clutching his turban the whole time!"

He then proceeded to act out this scene, to Hermione's complete bewilderment. Arms flailing about and screeching, Daphne jumped up and apparently took on the role of McGonagall, as she tried to catch him.

A couple of older students laughed at the pair as they danced around animatedly. The first years were of course all in fits.

Her shoulder jostled and she glanced up to see Draco watching the room impassively, he sat on the arm Blaise had occupied moments earlier.

"I can show you the memory if you like?" He whispered to her.

Hermione laughed "I'll hold you to that."

She leaned into him slightly, and turned back to the dancing first years, only to see that Theo had replaced Blaise and Pansy had taken on the role of professor Flitwick. So now Theo had Daphne and Pansy chasing after him.

Bubbles flittered across her vision, and she turned to see an older Slytherin girl idly waving her wand about.

"Oh! I almost forgot, Hermione!" Blaise jumped up next to her, dislodging Draco and throwing him to the floor with a yelp.

"I was looking for you everywhere, as I mentioned earlier, because of those quills you've been making! I need one!" he put his arm round her shoulder and pulled her in close. "I know you use Draco as your experimental subject for these things, but I really think that someone of a higher calibre should be showcasing this wonderful creation of yours!"

"Well thank you?"

"Oh you are welcome!" He grinned conspiratorially, barely reacting to Draco smacking the back of his head and calling him a git.

"I've been thinking that this could, in fact, make us a few sickles if you see where I'm going?"

Draco was rolling his eyes behind Blaise's head, and sticking his tongue out.

"How very entrepreneurial of you Blaise, let me think about it."

"Entra-preneial, yes!" he said delightedly, before shooting Draco a smug look.

"Yes, yes. So clever, now piss off." Draco sneered at Blaise, who smirked wider before launching himself directly into Theo.

Both boys hit the floor and were quickly hidden by a dog pile consisting of Pansy, Daphne, Crabbe, Goyle and Millicent.

"Snotty little git." Draco hissed.

"This has been a weird day…"

"Yeah." Draco sighed. "Shall we go get some food? You missed lunch and all this excitement is making me hungry."

"Kitchen?"

"Oh Gods yes."

The pair of them meandered back to Draco's dorm, where Hermione grabbed her bag, before strolling casually past the other students and heading up to the kitchens.

"You think we should invite Dobby?"

Hermione's eyes widened and she stared blankly at Draco.

"What?" He sniffed and shifted his gaze to the floor as they approached the fruit painting. "Too eat with us. You know, like as a thank you? For his help, for doing my bed and everything…"

He was turning pink under her gaze, "What?" he squared his shoulders but avoided her eyes.

Her stomach twisted and she could feel the giddy happiness rising from within, "That sounds wonderful Draco." Hermione pulled him into a quick hug and kissed his cheek, "You should call for him."

"Ah yeah, okay."

Hermione tickled the pear until it giggled and morphed into a handle, and with a pull stepped into the kitchen.

Elves immediately swarmed her each clamouring for her attention, cries of would miss like a snack or drink washed over her.

"Um, thank you ever so much for your hospitality. Would it be okay if three of us ate in here with you? I'd be ever so grateful."

This caused an explosion of movement as she was ferried to a small table of the side of the replica great hall ones.

"Miss must forgive us, dinner service is soon." One rather elderly elf explained, ears quivering. "Mipsy hopes that this table will suit Miss and guest's needs?"

"Of course, thank you ever so much for finding the time to host us. And please, call me Hermione, Mipsy."

Mipsy squeaked, eyes widening as she bowed slightly and rushed off.

Curiously Hermione watched the portrait opening, what on earth was Draco doing? It couldn't take that long to invite Dobby to dinner, unless of course he had a melt down or something?

Letting out a huff, Hermione went to open the portrait. As soon as the door swung open however, there was a gods-awful wailing attacking her eardrums and she recoiled back from the entrance sharply.

Draco was kneeling down on the floor, hands hovering over a withering Dobby who appeared to be wiping snot all over the floor.

"It's not my fault." He stated as soon as he spotted her.

"I asked him to dinner," A piercing screech made them both wince, "And he just…" Draco waved his hands uselessly.

Sighing, Hermione picked Dobby off the floor; he went limp in her arms, tears staining his face. "Hush now Dobby, Lets get you cleaned up so you can have dinner with us yes? Draco is hungry and we can't eat until you've calmed down now can we?"

Dobby hiccupped gently, slowly shaking his head.

"Excellent, now hold still." She ran her hand over his head, vanishing the snot and tears with a useful spell that was indispensable in her children's youth. "That's much better now isn't it?"

Dobby nodded hesitantly.

Carefully lowering him to the floor, she took his hand and walked back into the kitchen to their table.

What followed was a bizarre evening, trying to stop one of the dinner guests from trying to help serve the food themselves.

Every time a course was brought to them, Dobby had already probably tried to get up at least five times to help serve.

It took Draco finally ordering Dobby to not assist, for the little elf to stop. However his ears kept twitching every time another elf walked past carrying something.

Over all, Hermione thought dinner with Dobby went really well. It seemed Dobby and Draco had a different opinion, by the strange looks they were both giving her at this statement.

"Dobby thank you for your company, I look forward to our next meeting." She shook Dobby's hand and he made a squeaky noise, which she ignored. "And Draco I'll see you at midnight."

With a bright smile she headed up the closest spiral staircase and made her way back to Gryffindor tower, humming happily.