A few days before he was due to restart his Auror training, Draco was helping his best friend, Blaise move into his new penthouse. The penthouse was actually owned by Draco's father, Lucius, after he had bought the entire building shortly before the war had taken hold. Thanks to the war it had taken Lucius a while to turn the building into the luxury apartment block he'd envisioned when he'd bought the property, but finally he was ready to start leasing the flats, and Blaise had been given first refusal on one of the luxury penthouses on the top floor. Lucius had also offered Draco one of the penthouses, but for the moment, Draco was happy to stay at home at the manor. After all, he had his own personal wing in the manor, and all the privacy he needed.
"I think we need to throw a party," Blaise declared out of the blue as he and Draco sat in the living room, taking a break from their hard work.
"A party?" Draco questioned. "What sort of party?"
"A housewarming party," Blaise replied. "You know, I've just realised we've never really partied. Our final few years of Hogwarts should have been filled with wild parties and out of control hormones. We should have had a blast down in the dungeons for those final few years."
"I guess our final few years were rather stressful," Draco conceded.
"That is putting it mildly," Blaise snorted. "Face it Draco, that nose-less bastard stole our best teenage years. We spent our final few years at Hogwarts worried that we could end up dead at any time. When we should have been acting like reckless teenagers and throwing wild parties."
"So your solution is to throw a wild party now?" Draco checked.
"Absolutely," Blaise answered with a grin. "We're going to invite everyone we know and have a great time. We have to be wild now, before we become too mature and settle down."
"I can't see you becoming too mature anytime in the near future," Draco laughed.
"Neither can I, but you never know what's around the corner," Blaise remarked with a shrug. "Let's draw up a guest list, shall we?"
"Why not just invite our friends without going to the fuss of making a guest list," Draco suggested. To be honest he didn't mind the idea of a party, but he didn't really fancy turning it into a major production with guest lists.
"Okay, but feel free to invite anyone you want," Blaise said.
"Since our friends are the all the same, that offers a bit redundant," Draco pointed out. "Which means, you want me to invite someone special. Who?"
"I just thought you might want to invite Weasley."
"Yeah, I could invite him," Draco said with a frown. He wasn't surprised that Blaise had suggested inviting Ron as it had become clear in recent weeks that the redhead was likely going to become part of their lives thanks to him and Draco working together and getting to know one another, but he suspected there was something else his best friend was angling for.
"And he might want to bring along Granger," Blaise added casually.
"Ah, you want Granger at the party," Draco said with an understanding chuckle.
"It may have escaped your notice, but she's grown up pretty nice," Blaise remarked with a low whistle.
"Why would it have escaped my notice?" Draco snorted. "I'm not blind, Blaise. Besides, she hasn't grown up nice, she's always been nice. Or don't you remember our fourth year and the Yule Ball?"
"I remember, I just didn't realise you noticed her," Blaise said, giving his friend a scrutinising look. "I thought back then that you thought she was beneath you."
"Muggleborn or not, she caught my attention," Draco confessed with a shrug.
"Well, she did go to the Yule Ball with a celebrity," Blaise remarked.
"That's not why I noticed her," Draco snorted. "I would have noticed her even if she hadn't been on Krum's arm. But I'm not really sure what this has to do with anything. I thought the point was you like her and want her at the party."
"I wouldn't say no if she was there, but if you like her just say the word and I'll back off," Blaise offered with a sly smirk.
"I never said I liked Granger, I just said that I am well aware of how she looks," Draco argued. "If you want to ask her out, do it."
"I will," Blaise declared. "I'll not be stepping on Weasley's toes, will I?"
"I don't think so, he's never mentioned them being more than friends," Draco replied. "But if you ask her out and she's taken, she'll let you know."
"That's decided then," Blaise announced as he jumped to his feet in order to get back to unpacking. "We'll have a party at the weekend, and you'll make sure Weasley is invited, and he brings Granger."
"If that's what you want," Draco said. "But what happened to that barmaid you were chatting up in the bar the other week?"
"Nothing, we had fun while it lasted," Blaise answered with a shrug.
"And how long did it last?"
"Five or six hours."
Unable to help himself, Draco laughed at his best friend. Blaise certainly didn't have to worry about becoming too mature to attend wild parties. In Draco's opinion it would be a long time before his best friend was ready to settle down and be a mature adult.
On Saturday evening, Blaise's penthouse was buzzing as his party was in fully swing. All his friends were at the party, and Draco had not only invited Ron and Hermione, but he'd extended an invitation to the other Aurors in training, Dean, Seamus, Neville and Luna. It was nice to mix with some different people, and even though he wasn't a big one for parties, Draco was actually enjoying himself.
A few hours into the party, Draco wandered out onto the balcony to grab some air. The balcony ran around the entire penthouse, so while Draco had exited via the open door in the living room, he wandered around the corner where it was a bit quieter. Leaning on the railing, he gazed out across the night sky, sipping on the glass of wine he'd brought outside with him.
Ten minutes later, Draco was still outside when he heard footsteps approaching from the direction in which he'd came. Turning around, he found himself face to face with Hermione as she appeared from around the corner.
"Sorry, I didn't realise anyone was out here," she apologised.
"It's fine, there's room for us both," Draco replied. "So, is the party a bit too wild for you?"
"I would hardly call it wild," Hermione laughed, moving to stand beside Draco and admire the view. "It seems like a pretty normal party to me."
"The night is young, and Blaise is still sober," Draco returned with a smirk.
"I'm not sure he's that sober," Hermione admitted. "He's just asked me out, or at least I think that was his intention. At the very least he propositioned me."
"And what did you say?"
"I was very flattered, and Blaise is very attractive, but I just don't think we're well suited. I think he's more the casual fling sort of person."
"Blaise does have a tendency to get bored very easily," Draco confided.
"And I have no intention of being another notch on his bedpost," Hermione retorted.
"Poor Blaise, he's not used to getting knocked back," Draco chuckled.
"He seemed to be getting over it just fine," Hermione replied with a shrug. "Michael and Ernie brought a few friends with them, and when I slipped outside, he was chatting up Hannah Abbot."
"Trust Blaise to bounce back in record time," Draco muttered with a shake of his head. "So if Blaise isn't your type, what is?"
"I don't think I have a type," Hermione admitted with a shrug. "And right at this moment, I'm not looking for a boyfriend. I'm focusing on my career."
"And how's that going?"
"It turns out you were right," Hermione said with a wry smile. "I wasn't fulfilling my potential where I was working, so after a few weeks of soul searching, I quit."
"You quit? Because of what I said last time we talked?" Draco questioned, totally amazed that his words had been taken so seriously by Hermione.
"Yeah, I start work in the Department of Magical Co-Operation on Monday," Hermione replied. "Of course, I've got to start at the bottom, but I do think I will be more fulfilled."
"And what about your campaign to aid magical creatures?"
"You were right about that as well, I can do more from a distance."
"Who knew I could give such good advice," Draco laughed.
"You're full of surprises," Hermione said with a smile. "There's much more to you than I ever thought possible."
"You mean I'm more than the bigoted little git you met when we started school?" Draco teased.
"I never called you a bigoted git," Hermione argued.
"But you thought it," Draco predicted with a chuckle.
"Oh, I thought a lot worse than that over the years," Hermione admitted with a small smile. "Although I'm sure you've thought plenty about me over the years."
"I have," Draco admitted. "But my opinions have changed over the years. I no longer think I am better than anyone else."
"The very fact Ron and I are here is proof of how we've all moved on," Hermione remarked.
"Things have changed," Draco agreed.
"For the best?" Hermione checked.
"For the best," Draco confirmed with a nod of his head. "This might not be how I envisioned my life, but I'm certainly not complaining. Things certainly could have turned out a hell of a lot worse for me."
"Things could have turned out a lot worse for everyone, but we shouldn't dwell on what might have been."
"No, we should focus on the here and now," Draco agreed. "And here and now my drink is gone and you don't seem to have one. So what do you say we head back inside, get some drinks, and enjoy the rest of this party."
"Sounds good to me," Hermione said with a smile as she and Draco turned and headed back into the party.
Ron didn't think twice about accepting Draco's invitation to Blaise's party, and it didn't take much persuading to get Hermione to come along with him. Although when they did get to the party, they were both pleasantly surprised to find a few of their other friends in attendance. Clearly the celebratory drink recently had led to some blossoming friendships between people who had once been fierce rivals.
Grabbing drinks, Ron and Hermione dove into the fun and were soon separated. However, a few hours into the party Ron came across Hermione chatting with Blaise, and he arrived just in time to hear the former Slytherin say what an attractive dress Hermione was wearing. Suspecting that Blaise was about to ask Hermione out, he didn't approach the pair, but he was still close enough to hear Blaise's follow up line, which was that Hermione's dress would look even better on his bedroom floor. The cheesy line amused Ron to no end, and even though Blaise then attempted to ask Hermione out properly, he got a resounding no from her.
"Now why on earth did you turn down an offer like that?" Ron asked with a chuckle, approaching Hermione once Blaise had wandered off, heading straight in the direction of Hannah Abbot.
"You think I should have taken him up on his offer?" Hermione questioned with an arched eyebrow.
"A bit of fun never hurt anyone," Ron replied with a shrug.
"A bit of fun is all it would be with Blaise," Hermione said. "He doesn't seem to be the sort of wizard who would take relationships seriously."
"Is that what you want, a serious relationship?" Ron asked.
After a brief liaison at the end of the war, which had in fact brought them closer, Ron had made the decision to stay out of Hermione's love life. A romance between them may not have worked out, and he wanted Hermione to find happiness, but it was still slightly odd for him to contemplate her love life.
"Not at the minute, I'm quite happy to focus on my career, and the new path it's found itself on," Hermione answered. "That's not to say I wouldn't object if I met someone and there were sparks."
"And Blaise doesn't produce sparks?"
"No sparks," Hermione chuckled. "And clearly he doesn't get sparks from me, look how quick he's moved onto charming Hannah."
"Maybe she appreciated the line about her dress looking good on his bedroom floor," Ron joked.
"Maybe," Hermione agreed with a smile. "But that's not my style. I'm going outside for a bit of fresh air, I'll catch you later."
Ron watched Hermione wander out onto the balcony and disappear from view, before returning his attention to the party around him. With a fresh drink in hand, he headed over to where Neville and Luna were chatting with Theo. Neville and Theo were deep in conversation about Hogwarts, so he spent some time catching up with Luna and finding out how she was getting along working with her father on his magazine, The Quibbler.
"Ooh, that's interesting," Luna suddenly cooed, about half an hour into her conversation with Ron.
Seeing that Luna's attention was focused over his shoulder, Ron turned around and spotted Hermione re-entering the penthouse. However, she wasn't alone. Draco was with her and rather than going their separate ways once they were back inside, Draco grabbed them both a drink and they settled down together in the far corner.
"That is interesting," Ron agreed in a murmur, his focus now entirely on his best friend and the blond Slytherin he was coming to think of as a friend.
Hermione said she wasn't opposed to sparks, and from what Ron could see, there could definitely be sparks with Draco. Hermione looked completely at ease in Draco's company, and even though Ron was too far away to hear what was being said between them, he knew they weren't fighting as they both had smiles on their faces. In fact as he continued to watch them the smiles turned to laughter, and he strongly suspected a bit of flirtation was taking place.
"Now that is something I didn't see coming," Luna murmured, having also being watching the pair across the room.
"Do you see the sparks as well?" Ron asked.
"Yes, I see the sparks," Luna replied with a smile. "I just hope Hermione sees them. She is rather stubborn, and might very well not even admit to liking Draco."
"I don't think I'm going to give her that option," Ron replied with a wicked grin. "I'm going to do everything I can to ensure she takes a chance and grabs any opportunity for happiness that comes her way."
Although Ron was hoping that he wouldn't have to interfere in his best friend's life. With any luck Hermione and Draco would see the sparks for themselves and act on them. And if they didn't, well then Ron was always there to give them a friendly push in the right direction.