Hermione woke up with a stretch and found Crookshanks lying contentedly next to her on a cushion. 'Lucky cat,' she thought as she got out of bed. The wood floor was cold against her feet and she jumped from rug to dirty clothing to any other fabric surface to avoid touching her toes on the icy ground (a/n: doesn't anyone else do that besides me?). She quickly showered and applied several glamours in the bathroom. By this time she was feeling somewhat conscious so she opened her closet and took out a rose- colored lacy camisole, a cream blazer, and a matching cream skirt. Hermione also managed to dig out a pair of cream slingbacks. She nervously surveyed herself in the mirror and plucked at a wayward strand of hair.

"Well aren't you looking pretty today," commented the mirror good- naturedly.

"Do I look like I'm trying to hard?" Hermione asked nervously.

The mirror shimmered. "Of course not, dearie. Don't forget to put on some hose!"

"Thanks," replied Hermione as she took out a pair of pantyhose and proceeded to slide them on.

"Perfect, out you go!"

Hermione gave the mirror a smile and rushed out with her purse.

"Two café lattes, please," said Draco. The girl nodded and went back to get his order. He was looking clean-cut and slick as usual, and attracting just as many stares. Draco looked over and caught a girl staring at him. He turned back and grinned inwardly.

"Here you are, sir."

"Thank you," Draco paid and left the coffee shop. The two coffees in hand, he headed up to his office humming a tune he had heard somewhere. The radio, they called it.

"G'morning, Minister." "Good day, sir." "Top o' the mornin' to you, sir!" "Morning, Mr. Malfoy." "Hello, Minister."

Draco nodded hello to his fellow workers. Life was pretty sweet at the top.

If Hermione didn't hurry she was going to be late. She clutched her purse tighter and walked a little faster. She didn't want to break into a run just yet. That was if she was REALLY late.

She finally made it to her desk and gratefully plopped down. A ready stack of papers lay waiting for her; they seemed to be grinning cheekily at her.

"Morning!" said Emily.

"Good morning," Hermione replied. "How'd you get by yesterday?"

"Oh, just fine, don't worry about it. Feeling any better today?"

Hermione smiled. "Loads better. Got some sleep, got some tea, I feel great." She began shuffling through her parchment. "Oh, and if you need a favor or anything, don't hesitate."

Emily winked. "I just might hold you to that. You'll know what I mean when you see the cute new janitor."

Hermione and Emily laughed.

"Laughter in the morning is a sign of good things to come."

Both girls swirled around in their chairs to face a smiling Draco Malfoy.

"Minister!" squeaked Emily. She blushed furiously.

"Good morning, ladies."

"I was just getting back to work," Emily said quickly as she swung back to her desk.

Draco chuckled and placed one of the cups of coffee on Hermione's desk.

"Thank you," said Hermione appreciatively. "I didn't have breakfast, so this is quite nice."

"You never ate breakfast before, I figured you hadn't started to," replied Draco, as he took a sip.

"True." Hermione got a big whiff of the enticing coffee and gulped it down. "Much better."

"And, if you're not doing anything later for lunch, maybe you'd care to join me on the veranda?" Draco asked slowly.

Hermione surveyed the workload on her desk. Draco caught this and quickly added, "None of that is really important. Just filling out forms. I'll get someone else to do it, if it's a problem."

"Alright, sure. Just let me know when you're going to lunch."

"Great, I'll come by later then."

"'K. See you later."

"Bye."

Hermione turned back to her desk with a delicious smile on her face.

Lunch came by none too quickly and Draco came by her desk promptly at noon.

"Ready?"

Hermione looked up, quill in mouth, sheets of parchment in both hands. She nodded and dropped the quill on her desk. "Give me a sec to tidy up." Hermione collected the parchment and tried to make some sort of an organized pile. Once that was done, she grabbed her purse and walked out with Draco.

On top of the Ministry of Magic building were a couple of restaurants, some fast-food, some family restaurants, a couple bars, and some very fine dining. Draco took Hermione to the Italian restaurant called Andante. They were seated outside on the rooftop patio, which boasted a magnificent view of the magical city, bustling with activity.

"Anything in particular you want?" Draco asked as he eyed the menu leisurely.

"Hmm," Hermione studied the dishes seriously, "the spaghetti el pomodoro sounds fantastic. Or the breaded chicken."

"Alright. Spaghetti el pomodoro and the chicken, please," Draco said to the waiter. "And two glasses of white wine."

"What about you? What are you eating?"

"We can split them both, I have no preference."

Hermione nodded. She gazed out onto the city.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? I haven't been to this restaurant in a while, I missed the view."

"It's gorgeous," replied Hermione. "And to think there's all this hidden from the muggles. I hope they don't realize on how much they're missing out."

"Oh, I'm sure they don't. Breadstick?"

Hermione laughed. "Sure."

"So are you still friends with Potter and Weasley?"

"We keep in touch, but I'm afraid our schedules just keep us apart. You know how busy Aurors are, and with Harry's new promotion to Deputy Auror, it's horrible for his social life, not to mention Cho."

"So he finally married the girl, huh?" Draco nibbled on his breadstick thoughtfully.

"Yes, they make a rather cute couple. And their daughter is just the most adorable little thing. And then there's Ron and his modeling. Who would've thought that buff redheads were the new 'in' thing? I can't pass a bus stop now without seeing Ron in his knickers."

Draco laughed heartily. "Excuse me while I go scratch out my mind's eye now."

Hermione laughed. "I know, disturbing to you, but hey, the rest of the world seems to love it. Not exactly Lavender, but whatever. She needs to get over her insane jealousy someday." She sipped her wine. "How about Pansy? Whatever happened to her?"

"Ah, Pansy's in France right now. Last time we spoke, which was last month I think, she was working on a new film. You'd be surprised, she's changed quite a bit."

"She acts?"

"Since about five years ago. She's mainly been doing a lot of stage work, and independent films. Says that big-budget productions are so commercialized and mass-produced.or something to that extent."

"I see. Will I ever see her in the theaters?"

"Well I think she gave the aforementioned notion up, because the project she's working on now is set to be quite a blockbuster. You can expect to see her name in the marquees in a couple of months."

Hermione smiled. How things had changed since their Hogwarts days.

"You're thinking about Hogwarts, aren't you?" guessed Draco between sips of wine.

"Still as good as ever," smirked Hermione. She had always been amazed at his ability to read her mind.

"I'm glad I'm out of there. It was good to begin anew, with a fresh start. I had to wear that stupid Slytherin identity on my sleeve all the time and it was so confining. Not to mention the pressure my parents put on me. Academics from my mother and power from my father. What a bad combination for a kid."

"You turned out alright, though," replied Hermione.

Draco laughed. "I'm glad you think I turned out alright."

"Oh you know what I meant," said Hermione, hitting him lightly.

"I'm sorry, Miss Granger. I could never really understand all the intelligensia jargon you used all the time." He grinned.

She made to hit him again but this time he caught her hand. She looked up, surprised. His face was serious and he leaned forward slowly, almost cautiously, until their noses were touching.

"You still give me that feeling, Hermione," Draco breathed before he touched his lips to hers. She hesitantly opened her mouth to deepen the kiss, which he eagerly did. They were just in the middle of a very satisfying kiss when they heard a voice.

"Hermione?!"