A/N: This is an author's note to tell all of you that I went back and edited the last chapter a few hours after posting it because the typos were so effing bad! Re-reading it is probably a good idea. If you feel up to it, that is. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Chapter 24

Draco must have noticed the sudden movement outside the window, because the second she halted he looked up at her, a small and happy smile hitting his features. She couldn't help but return it, and with a small hand gesture he motioned for her to sit across from him in the booth, the man seeming to have already eaten and was now working on his tea.

She nodded at him once, smile still in place, and Hermione took in a deep, stabilizing breath as she entered the building and walked down to the blonde's table, her heart beating ever harder against her ribcage the closer she got to him. It was odd for her to enter the restaurant and not wait for Madam Puddifoot to seat her, but it hardly crossed her mind as she stood at the end of the table Draco occupied.

He smiled up at her at her arrival, even as he greeted, "Good evening. Care to join me?" He offered, verbally this time, while nodding his head to the empty bench across from him.

"I would," she answered, removing her cloak and setting it on the bench beside her as she scooted into the booth. As she settled, she looked pointedly at the Charms text, asking, "New book?"

"Ah. Yes. I figured that I should buy my own books since term starts on Thursday. I've actually had a strange few days." He gave her an especially pointed look as he said, "One of which you may have already heard about."

With a raised brow of confusion, Hermione answered, "I'm going to be honest and say I have no idea what you are talking about. I haven't seen you in just as many days." Hermione paused here, then said, "I'm going to go further and admit that I wasn't expecting you to come back."

She regretted the words as soon as she said them, her eyes daring to drop to the tabletop for a moment before looking back to him. His eyes showed nothing but surprised as he said, "Why would you think that?"

"No reason, really," she replied quickly, not wanting to admit that she'd put herself through an emotional ringer playing out all of the scenarios in her mind for days on end. The witch switched the subject by asking, "So what happened that you think I should already know about?"

"Well… After I found you in the storm-" he cleared his throat here as his gaze faltered for a second. She didn't blame him, for she'd barely staved off doing the same thing at him even alluding to what had happened after he found her. He went on, "-I couldn't sleep, so I decided I would go to the Manor at three in the morning to finish tying up some loose ends. I went to Tenarcha to see my mother this morning. But it was yesterday, after I'd come back to the school to grab my vault key, one I'd forgotten here and that is spelled to be unSummonable, that I was in Diagon where I was roughly pushed into an alley and nearly accosted by one Ginevra Weasley. Or, at the very least, accused of tampering with your mind by one Ginevra Weasley."

Hermione managed larger eyes as he told her this, and her jaw dropped as she asked in disbelief, "What? Are you serious?"

He gave her a slow and amused smirk as he said, "I swear on Merlin's sequined knickers that I-"

"It's good to see you well, Miss Granger," Puddifoot said out of nowhere, seeming to silently apparate at the end of the table while simultaneously cutting Draco off. The elder witch smiled down at the two, asking, "Can I get you some tea, dear? I also made some broth last night."

Hermione nodded, trying to school her features into ones that didn't look like she'd just been hit by the Knight Bus. "Yes. Thank you. And I also want to thank you for owling Draco the other night."

"It was my pleasure, lass. I'm just glad he found ye," she replied with a grin. "I'll be back with yer food shortly." Then she walked away, leaving the two students to their previous conversation.

When Puddifoot was out of earshot, Hermione's gaze snapped back to Draco as she asked, "What did Ginny say to you?"

He looked to be stifling a grin, and licked his lips before saying, "Uh… Eh…" He scratched his temple with a single digit, then blurted, "She thinks I have you under an Imperious Curse, forcing you to spend time with me, while also telling you to write her letters about how much you like spending time with me. She thinks I made you correspond with her so it wouldn't look suspicious when she comes back to school next week to "learn we're shagging"."

Hermione made a noise that even she could admit sounded like a slowly dying animal.

This gave the platinum prat, who held a smirk that deepened as her expression became more exaggerated from her horror, time to ask, "I understand my reputation precedes me, Hermione, but what on earth did you write her in those letters that caused her to Muggle handle me in an alley? She could have killed me."

Another noise escaped Hermione's throat, as if she were unable to breathe, and a deep blush raced from her chest to her forehead in a matter of seconds.

In that moment, Madam Puddifoot magically served Hermione her food and tea, and the witch was happy to have a place to keep her eyes as she managed, "It wasn't anything of importance, really. Ginny tends to blow things out of proportion. She's much like Ron in that way."

The witch began to serve herself some tea, and all Draco said was, "I suppose so."

After this, Draco went back to his book while he left Hermione to her food. But this caused the silence to be deafening, and the witch was so uncomfortable that she had to sing to distract herself, "Come sit next to me, pour yourself some tea, just like grandma made when we couldn't find sleep. Things were better then, once but never again. We've all left the den, let me tell you 'bout it."