I can't control my smile when I'm with you.

The weekend seemed to fly by, before Hermione knew it was Monday morning. Finn had arrived Friday evening grocery bags in hand. That night he had made her an amazing home cooked meal, fired chicken, mac and cheese, biscuits (which were not cookies but rather a form of bread, and they had been amazing even if they did come from a can), and some steamed cabbage. He had called it soul food, Hermione didn't really care what it was called, it had been amazing. After dinner was done and the dishes had been cleared away, they had picked up where they had left off that morning. He was amazing when it came to the art form of knowing how to pleasure someone else, in tune to her wants and needs and when he was done, she wasn't wanting. Saturday, they pulled themselves from her bed and had ventured out into the city for breakfast and a hot steaming cup of coffee. Something they both needed to get the going in the mornings. As promised Finn had taken her back to Main Street where they had spent the late morning exploring the little street and all the shops it had to offer. He had been right, it was amazing, but she thought she might just still prefer Diagon Alley. She had spent hours in the little bookstore exploring the array of books offered. Even picking up a few on the great American history of witch's and wizards. All in all, it had been a great day.

He had left her apartment reluctantly that evening for his monthly poker game, not knowing how long the game might be he hadn't promised to return and seeing as his Sunday's were reserved for his family, she figured she wouldn't see him till Monday morning. Maybe Sunday night if she was lucky and he returned from D.C at a decent time.

At one pm on Sunday afternoon she met Draco in Central Park for lunch. Emily was in full planning mode for their upcoming wedding. Seeing as his opinions were not wanted or needed, he found it easy to escape. They spent the afternoon just enjoying the company of one another. He bought her another hotdog from the same stand they visited the week before, and even some ice cream from a stand that wasn't too far from the bench they had chosen near the zoo. They talked about school, and how their experiences had differed. He told her what it had been like living under his father's roof all those years, and how it had shaped him into the kid he was back then. He didn't blame his father for his behavior. He admitted he had known long before Henry's reappearance how wrong his belief system was. She herself had been the one who had made him take a good long look at the things he had always been taught growing up. She defied the logic; she was hands down the most powerful student in their year. When she confessed, she thought Helena might have something to do with that he brushed the idea off.

They broached the subject of her torture at the hands of his deranged aunt but didn't linger to long on the topic. The scars from that attack were finally starting to heal and she wasn't ready to rip the scab off just yet, not with him anyways. She had confessed to him; how hard it had been to stick to her decision where they were concerned after the war was over. Without the threat of war her resolve had been tested. That was when her string of failed relationships had started, first up had been Ron Weasley. That had lasted all of three months before it fizzled out, she told him about Oliver and how she had tried to make that work. She had wanted to make it work more than anything, but it hadn't, and she had broken the poor guys heart. The two things they didn't talk about, Finn and Emily. They both avoided the subjects, it was unspoken. She still felt that they might be mudding the waters but spending time with him filled her with something she couldn't really put a finger on.

Monday morning dawned early than she would have liked, and with it the impending arrival of Harry Potter. The atmosphere that morning at MACUSA had shifted. Even the normal cool and collected Emily Chamberlin seemed to be a bit on edge, his visit was a big deal and everyone within the walls of MACUSA knew it. Harry Potter would forever more be a symbol of hope and all the good things left in this world. As much as he might hate this fact, he knew it to be true. Even now he was hard pressed to venture out into wizarding Britain and not be stopped by a peer who wanted to say thank you. He had given up more than most.

At nine am on the dot, Harry Potter stepped through the fireplace in Hermione's office, suitcase in hand. He dropped the case to the floor, brushed to soot off his clothes and looked around the office until his eyes fell on Hermione.

Hermione jumped up and rushed to give her one of her oldest friends a hug. He caught her in a bear hug and spun her around before sitting her back on her feet. "Merlin, I have missed you." He said stepping back for a moment to get a good look at her. "Things haven't been the same since you left."

"Harry its only been a few weeks," she laughed as she moved back to her desk.

"You seem different." He said with a thoughtful look, he had been studying his best friends since he had walked out of the fireplace.

"Nothing's changed." She said nervously smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles from the black dress, uncomfortable with his quizzical gaze.

"That's not what Ginny says." He smirked at her, of course Ginny would have told him all about Finn. The two of them gossiped worse than two teenage girls.

"When will Ginny be coming?" she asked ignoring his bait for more information. He would meet Finn soon enough.

"End of week, we will spend the weekend here with you, before heading back to London."

"Well why don't we head down to the Auror department." Hermione said trying to get back her normal equilibrium. "Everyone is excited to meet the great Harry Potter."

He rolled his eyes "Fantastic." He said sarcastically.

She moved towards the door but stopped in her tracks. Deciding now would be the best time to tell Harry about Draco. "You should know, Draco Malfoy has been living here since the end of the war."

He didn't look surprised at this. "I know." She gave him a questioning look. "We keep track of everyone who was involved with the Death Eaters, Hermione. Congress also keeps us up to date on his movements here."

"Do you also know that he is engaged to be married to Vice President Chamberlin?" Again, this didn't surprise him.

"Like I said congress keeps us up to date on his movements. It caused a big shock wave when the news of the engagement hit the news here."

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" she felt a little hurt that her friend wouldn't have shared this information with her. She knew she was being silly, but she couldn't shake it.

"I didn't think it mattered. You weren't Malfoy's biggest fan, nor were you his. Besides I don't like idle gossip."

"Unless it's with Ginny." He had the decency to blush.

"That is different, and you know it." He said trying to defend himself.

Not happy with the answer she thought it would be best to drop it. "Why don't we head down. They have a full day of meeting scheduled for you."

He was greeted with great fan fair down in the Auror department, to his great displeasure. Even after all these years, he still had a hard time coming to terms with his fame. It was short to his relief and they were able to get down to business. Marcus Palmer who was head of the department took Harry through the everyday ins and outs of the department, went over procedure protocols, before diving into the first of their scheduled meetings.

It was after five before Hermione saw Harry again. Most of that day's meetings had nothing to do with her, she and Finn had already drawn up details for the program, but it was down to Palmer and Harry to make the final decisions seeing as they were head of departments. He looked exhausted when plopped down in the chair in front of her desk.

"Time difference taking a toll?" she asked trying not to laugh. It had been him after all who had wanted to wait till Monday morning to make the journey from England.

"All I want is food and a bed."

"Well lucky for you I can provided those for you. Although it's a couch not a bed, but with a little magic I am sure we can make it comfortable."

"And when do I get to meet this bloke of yours?"

"His name is Finn, Harry." She turned in her serious voice. "I thought maybe he could come over for dinner, if you are up to it."

"Sure, why not."

Hermione smiled and started to gather all the files on her desk into neat little piles, before sending a note off to Finn with the invitation to dinner. "Do you want to take the subway?"

"You know I am sucker for trains Hermione."

"Then let's go."

It was half past six when Finn arrived, takeout in hand. Hermione could tell by the way his eyes light up that Finn was a little overly excited to be meeting Harry Potter for the first time and just hoped he didn't go overboard. It would annoy Harry and she would never hear the end of it. Her past boyfriends had all known Harry personally long before she ever dated them. This would be a first, "Finn this is Harry. Harry this is Finn."

"So, you are the bloke that has caught our Hermione's attention?" Hermione wanted to smack her friend upside down his head for that one. Our Hermione?

"I guess I have." Finn said nervously he held out his hand to her friend who took it and gave it a firm shake. "May I just say that it is a pleasure to meet you. Hermione has told me so much about you, I feel as if I already know you."

"Don't believe half of what she says Finn." He laughed and so did Finn "Hermione here I fear has always held me in higher regard than I actually deserve."

"You Harry James Potter don't give yourself enough credit." Hermione countered.

"Whatever you say, so is that Chinese I smell in that bag?" Harry asked pointing to the bag still in Finn's hand.

Finn looked down at for a moment, forgetting what he was there for, besides meeting the great Harry Potter. "Yes. Hermione said it was your favorite."

"Sucking up I see; I should warn you though Finn my opinion means very little to Hermione." Finn gave a nervous laugh and Hermione groaned. Yes, it would be a very long night.

To her great relief it hadn't turned out so bad. Harry did tease Finn some more, but it was done all in good fun and Finn didn't seem to mind so much. The two men seemed to hit it off well, which Hermione was grateful for. No matter what Harry might think she did value his opinion, he was the brother she never had. She didn't need to worry though, because it seemed Finn was charming her best friend, the same way he had managed to charm her.

At nine Finn stood to leave, seeing the exhausted look on Harry's face he took this as his cue to leave for the evening. Beside they would be in meetings together all day tomorrow and still had the rest of the week. After the two men said goodnight to one another Hermione walked Finn downstairs so they could say goodnight in private, well at least without Harry in the room.

"He is everything you said he would be." Finn said when the reached the bottom of the stairs.

"He is pretty awesome, isn't he?" she said as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.

"I think I still like you better though." He pressed his lips to hers in a sweet soft kiss that left her lips tingling and wanting more.

"I am going to miss you." She said when he pulled away, but only so he could trail kisses from her lips to her ear.

"I think I might just miss you a little more." He whispered in her ear.

"I could always sneak out after Harry falls asleep."

"Ms. Granger don't tease me." He wore a grin.

"Thirty minutes tops." She pulled out of his arm but not before planting a linger kiss on his lips. "Wait for me?" she asked. He nodded, she turned on her heels and made her way back up to her apartment. Damn that man.

Author's note: Short chapter, don't hate me. But to make it up to my readers this week I will post two chapter's. Hope you guys are enjoying this story, I know it is a slow burn so thank you for sticking with me.