~ Go away ~

The war was over. He had survived and had left everything behind him. He didn't need anyone to remind him what he had done. Especially not her.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, yet again. I hope you enjoy the update.

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His nightmares were indeed stronger the nights following their encounter in that muggle supermarket, and indeed featured the torture inflicted at his home very often, as expected.

Granger was the shining star in his dreams, of course; as much as she was the golden girl in the modern era of the magical world. This time though, he didn't have Kate to vent. He had considered contacting her; fairly certain that if he asked her, she would return back, but he just couldn't bring himself to communicate with that woman again. So, the dreams remained. No surprises there. He was however surprised to witness her visiting him in his store, just a few days after their meeting.

He set his jaw firmly before he acknowledged her presence. "Well if that isn't interesting. You come once again to seek me out, Granger? And here I thought you were accusing me of stalking you."

"Hello to you too." she replied somewhat defensive.

"What do you want?"

"Polite as ever. I hope I'm not setting myself up for disappointment…" she started explaining.

"If you wanted politeness, you should have visited a Hufflepuff. Don't waste my time, Granger." his tone was borderline bored.

"I'm here to request your assistance in inventing a potion." she stated bluntly, urged by his challenging demeanor.

"Excuse me?"

"I said that I want your help to invent a potion."

"You want me what?" he asked incredulously.

"Why is this so outrageous?" Hermione countered. "You were second only to myself back at school. I do know that Snape was somewhat partial to your degrees, but. For Merlin's sake, you're brewing beautification every week, as if it is the easiest potion out there!"

"I don't doubt my brewing abilities, Granger, what I'm saying is - " he started before she cut him in.

"Plus, I know that you brew Wolfsbane Potion every full moon for your friend, Zabini."

"That's ridiculous, Granger! I'm not brewing Wolfsbane for Blaise, he doesn't fucking need it!"

"Look, it's not like I'm gonna tell anyone. Nobody would believe that I asked you to help me of all people. But I need the best out there and although I hate to admit it, you're the only one that qualifies for the task. As for Blaise, his secret is safe with me."

"He doesn't have a secret! Why do you insist that he's a werewolf?"

"Please Malfoy, give me some credit." she said sarcastically. "He buys wolfsbane from Neville for the last four years, every ten days preceding a full moon. I would say that this is as good as yelling it from a rooftop."

"Even if we assumed that he does, why would you think that I brew it for him?"

"You are the only possible candidate, really. Zabini is only friends with you nowadays, you were much better at potions than him at school and you know his secret. Fearing the consequences, he would entrust only the best one and obviously not himself. Even Remus got his from Snape, while at Hogwarts; not everyone knows how to brew it efficiently."

"I don't fucking have to do anything to help you." he spat.

"This is really important to me though, Malfoy. I do hate to bring this up, but Harry and I have helped you twice in the past. Firstly, from Grabbe's fiendfyre in the Room of Requirement and after that to your trial at the Ministry."

Draco scoffed. "And you believe that you have struck a chord with that? That I actually have the decency to feel grateful and to think that I owe you something? You Gryffindors are fools; I have no such honorable dispositions."

Her lips twitched in a twisted smile. "I can't say that I didn't expect that. That is why I come with a proposal."

"Bring it on, Granger. I'm anxiously waiting your no-doubt interesting offer. Is it money? A manor in the suburbs, perhaps? A public vouch for me by Gryffindor's princess?" he mocked.

"You'd be surprised, Malfoy. It is a ticket out of the country." she noticed he was taken aback by the prize and she boldly pressed on. "The removal of your ban. Your freedom."

"What's the catch?" he asked immediately like the Slytherin he was.

"There's no catch. The moment we succeed in creating the potion, you are out of the country whenever you want. Kingsley can assure you on it, before we proceed if you want."

"And I suppose you want my answer now?"

"I would think that you'd jump to the offer immediately to be honest, but I suppose you can have one week to think about it."

He didn't say thanks, although what she was offering didn't really need second thoughts. His ban would of course expire in just over two years, but why wasting all that precious time when he could do otherwise? He needed to leave the country, in order to be able to breathe again. Surely, working with Granger wasn't ideal, but at least she wasn't Weasley and frankly the alternative was even worse.

She retrieved a small note from her pocket, that was written in a neat handwriting – obviously hers- and extended her hand to him. "This is my home address; you can contact me immediately once you've taken your decision. I really hope you'll agree."

"How do you know that Blaise doesn't buy the wolfsbane for me? That it is the other way around?" he suddenly asked.

She shook her shoulders indifferently. "You have been seen during the full moon; Blaise hasn't."

"The brightest witch of her age." he quoted sarcastically. "Fine, one week. I will let you know."

"Thank you." she mumbled and spun on her heels retreating.

His stare followed her all the way out, until she quietly closed the door of his store behind her.

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The second night after her proposal, he apparated himself to the address she had given him, in Muggle London. The neighborhood seemed very quiet, in contrast to his own, and her home was apparently a single-storey building. He approached her door hesitantly; thinking about what he had decided to tell her. She answered it in the fourth ring and her expression indicated that she was annoyed by the midnight visit and slightly worried about it too. All that changed as soon as she recognized him standing at her doorstep.

"Couldn't it have waited until tomorrow? You are within the deadline I gave you anyway."

"You also said to contact you immediately, Granger. So here I am." he made to look behind her, as if to subtly tell her to invite him in, but the door which was opened just a fraction and her small figure, hid effectively the inside.

"Can you wait a bit? I'm in my nightgown."

"I would prefer we finished this; plus, I don't have any issues with that attire."

She rolled her eyes and mumbled a spell - apparently transfiguring her outfit - before she opened her door a bit more and motioned to him to enter.

He did and he grabbed the opportunity to study the room for a minute. As expected, a huge bookstore dominated the space of her living room and everything else seemed warm, inviting and cozy. He rolled his eyes at how neat and organized her things were placed around the room. "I have some questions." he started plainly.

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "You mean you don't have an answer?" she asked with curiosity.

"I don't really think you ever expected an answer, did you? It was only a matter of when and not if I agreed."

She didn't refute him. "What do you want to know then?"

"How much time am I to devote in that task? In just over two years my ban is lifted anyway; the time should be shorter than that, if the offer aims to be appealing to me."

"A year. We'll give it a year and if we succeed within that, you're free. If we don't... You are in waiting again, I guess."

It seemed fair enough. "What kind of potion is this?"

She hesitated a bit before she replied. "A memory potion. I want a potion that can reverse the effects of the obliviation spell."

"Sounds like a challenge. Don't we have counter spells for that?"

"They..."she cleaned her throat, which was suddenly dry."They don't always work."

He nodded. "Why do you need that potion so much?" he asked curiously.

Her cheeks flushed and she moved awkwardly from one foot to another. "It's for my parents." she simply said.

Of course. He had read it in the headlines, as soon as the war had ended. Granger had obliviated her parents during the war, in order to keep them safe, and since then she was devoted to altering this situation. He wondered then how much mental strength it required to willingly turn your family to strangers and subconsciously tipped his hat to Granger. How very Gryffindor-y indeed.

"I want guarantees." he continued.

"Understandable, I can set up a special magical contract for that. We can go over it together before we sign it, if you want. Kingsley will sign it as well, if I ask him."

That was more than he had actually expected. "Ok, Granger." He sighed. "Let's have it your way then. When do we start?"

He could very much discern the flicker of hope that showed up in her face and inwardly despised her for still being able to hope after everything. "Tomorrow?" She asked sounding almost excited. "You could come over to my bookstore around 11am and we'll take it from there." When he didn't answer she hurried to suggest "Or I can come over at your shop?"

"No, I will come. Tomorrow then it is, Granger."

He turned to leave, but her voice stopped him on his tracks. "Malfoy?"

He spun around to face her again, silently acknowledging that he should had probably refused the offer ultimately. He had seen her a handful of times the past few weeks, and already his nightmares had escalated since then. He didn't want to think what he had signed up for, now that he was to meet her on a regular basis for an entire year. He already resented that aspect of their deal.

"Thank you... For agreeing to help me." she said following him, as he made his way to her door.

No, no, no. This wasn't him doing her a favor. She had to understand this it meant nothing and not try to read behind the lines during the implementation of their task. "Let me be clear about it, Granger. I'm not in any way doing this for you; I'm in it for purely selfish reasons as you understand and you'll do well to remember that as long as this... alliance will last."

Hermione nodded; her cheeks turning crimson.

He stayed silent for a bit longer, just to emphasize what he had said. "Tomorrow, Granger." he added and walked out of her home, apparating back to his place with a small faint pop.

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That night was awful. The nightmares had nothing to do with the Astronomy Tower or the Battle. He had dreamed that Voldemort had forced him to torture and obliviate his own parents and then had hunted them down and killed them both. Possibly, the future her parents would have had, had the Dark Lord not been defeated by Potter.

How could she stand that? Knowing that her parents didn't know her at all?

But maybe she didn't stand it, after all. Maybe that was the reason she had isolated herself in a plain bookstore instead of reaping the fruits of her efforts in a highly-paid and highly-acclaimed job at the Ministry. Maybe, that was also why he had the intriguing impression that she was also separated from the other two members of the Golden Trio, if he wasn't very much mistaken.

Draco smiled unintentionally; maybe collaborating with Granger, could at least provide a distraction from his own misery. Seeing her desperate and struggling to cope, may proved to be beneficial to his mood. He rejoiced a bit at that thought, but then again he would have to get used to the frequency of the nightmares, at least for a while. Her words, from when she had first visited him to his store a few weeks ago, came into his mind again, even though he tried to prevent them with all his might.

Can I help you with that?

He swore under his breath. He prayed to Salazar and back that he would go through all this unscathed, until he was free to start afresh somewhere new.

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a/n: I apologize for the slight delay in updates! The story is starting to unwind a little bit as we go and I hope you like it! If you enjoyed reading, please consider leaving a comment in reviews; it really makes me happy.

Are you excited to see Draco working closely with Hermione? Are you curious about Hermione's occupation and current state? Your thoughts on Blaise and the wolfsbane potion?

Thanks for reading!