Title: Plus que notre Passé

        Chapter One

Summary : Draco, Harry and Hermione came together to stop Voldemort. The world viewed them as united heros. The world didn't know what they were talking about.

D/H though references to past H/H. Post-Hogwarts.

Author's Note: This chapter is an attempt to define Hermione's life. If you read you have to review…ok, maybe I can't actually enforce that, but it'd sure be nice!


For the first time in a week after the confrontation with Draco, Hermione was actually feeling fairly stable. Re-adjusting the pencil holding her infamous curls in a bun on the top of her head, Hermione smelled and checked her watch. Almost five. Straightening up her desk, Hermione prepared to leave for the day.

        Work had always been a release valve for Hermione, and this past week it had proven itself effective once more. Hermione personally thought that her boss, Collier, was secretly delighted whenever she was having personal problems. Hermione worked longer and harder than ever when she needed a distraction, and the results were obvious. Not that Hermione didn't continuously produce exceptional work even when her life was tranquil, it was just when Hermione needed to ignore a problem her work became even more intense.

        Surveying her office for any work she needed to take home over the weekend and gathering her coat and purse, Hermione reflected on the turn her professional life had taken over the past year. Draco, Harry and herself had been top Aurors, out in the field almost every day. After Harry had been wounded in that damned battle, he had made Hermione promise to take a desk job. Naturally, she had been given a top position without question.

        Hermione felt the heavy feeling return to her chest that haunted her whenever she thought of Harry and shook it off. She was going out with Ginny tonight and she was damned determined to enjoy herself.

_

January 7th 2004

        Harry glared up at Hermione from the bed as she stood with her arms crossed with narrowed eyes. A heavy silence lurked through the room. Harry was the one to break it, "Your not actually going to argue with a dead man are you?"

        Hermione looked absolutely furious, "Your not dead Harry and that's a horrible card to play."

        Harry rolled his eyes and pushed up his glasses, which had slid down his nose. "I'm dead in a matter of weeks and you know it. I know it. I love you, but I'm sure as hell not going to let you pretend with me."  

        Hermione's eyes dropped to his bandaged stomach.

        "Mione. Stop staring at it."

        Hermione looked at him with slightly wet eyes, "I see you looking at it all the time."

        "That's because I lay in bed most of the time I'm not meeting with various ministers and other government officials. I have nothing else better to do."

        A few tears leaked out of Hermione's eyes. "I don't know what I'm going to do without you." She drew in a deep breath, "I've already lost Ron and now..."

        "You have Draco." Hermione's stiffened body wasn't lost on Harry as he watched his fiancée shift her eyes to the wall behind Harry's hospital bed though she quickly twisted her face into a smile,

        "Yes, there's Draco. But he's not the same."

        Harry smiled, "I know Mione. I don't..." Harry's voice choked, "I don't want to leave you. I don't want to leave anything."

        Hermione sat on the bed at Harry's knees and rubbed his calf, "Harry..."

        "I can't die knowing that you're still in danger."

        Hermione's hands stopped rubbing for a moment before continuing, "I'm an Auror. It's become part of me. I could never sit and know the horrible things that were going on and not do anything." 

        Harry smirked, a habit he had picked up from Draco, "And I'd never ask you to. Our side needs you; you're an incredible witch with an incredible mind. But I will not have you in the line of fire. Take a desk job. Be an analyst, train recruits, take the head position at one of the departments, anything Mione. You can do anything. Just do it away from the field."

        "Harry..."

        Harry grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her down to lie next to him on the small hospital bed. "Be safe."

        Hermione shut her eyes to avoid crying again and leaned her forehead against his own, feeling the light indent of his scar. "Alright," she whispered.

_

        Hermione evaluated her appearance in the full-length mirror. She was hardly out to meet men, but if Ginny disapproved of her dress for the "Hermione and Ginny Extravaganza" (as Ginny had insisted upon calling it for the entire week) it would mean another shopping trip sponsored by Ginny. And Hermione did not need nor want another shopping trip. 

        Satisfied that her black dress was appropriate, Hermione walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water before Ginny arrived. Just as she finished up the glass Ginny apparated in.

        The sleek redhead raised an eyebrow when she saw her best friend, "And she's actually showing some leg."

        Hermione smiled and fiddled with the edge of her skirt nervously, "It's not too much?"

        Ginny rolled her eyes and dodged several stacks of books on the floor before reaching Hermione and patting her on the arm. When one was friends with Hermione Granger, dodging impossibly high and randomly placed piles of books became one's second nature. "Honey, you're going out with a Weasley. The guys wear their shirts tight and the girls wear their skirts short. Nothing is ever too much."

        Taking Hermione's wrist, Ginny dragged Hermione out of her apartment and into the bustling London that Hermione's apartment was located above.

        An hour later, as Hermione and Ginny finished up their appetizers at Jordan's, one of their favorite restaurants, Hermione was about ready to reach across the table, grab her knife and twist it into Ginny's pale throat.

        "I don't want to talk about him anymore Ginny."

        Ginny rolled her eyes at Hermione's agitation. Draco was always such a sore topic for her, but Ginny wasn't going to let this chance slip by. She had always wondered what had happened between Harry, Hermione and Draco- or more specifically just Draco and Hermione but never had the opportunity to bring it up. After Harry's death Hermione had done her best to abolish all traces of Draco. "I'm asking a simple question Hermione, don't get so agitated. C'mon, be honest. Tell me why you think he showed up."

        Hermione pursed her lips so tightly the skin around them became dead white, "He probably just got jealous."

        Ginny raised an eyebrow, "Jealous?"

        Hermione nodded and took a sip of water, "Jealous. Yes, I'm completely sure that's what it was that pushed him to grace us with his presence. He felt left out because he wasn't getting enough attention. Still must have a good hold on that inferiority complex he has when it comes to Harry even after he's been dead for a year"

        Ginny dropped her eyes, "Hermione…"

        Hermione snapped, slamming her glass down forcefully, spilling water from the sides. "I don't want to talk about him tonight, I'm warning you."

        Most people would put their tail between their legs and back out slowly when Hermione showed her temper…but Ginny Weasley was far from 'most people.' Ginny stood up and walked around the table so she could look down at Hermione directly. "Tell me what's going on Hermione," Ginny's voice was a hiss, has learned to rise to Hermione's temper from Ron, "I swear to God I'll find out regardless."

        Hermione stared Ginny down for a second but finally bit her lip and shrugged, "I have no idea why he showed up when he did. I almost had a heart attack when I saw him walking towards me. I can't pretend that I never contemplated the idea, but I honestly never expected him to actually show up."

        Ginny's eyebrows knitted as she sat back down in her seat, "What did he say to you though? He didn't talk to anyone else but you."

        Hermione looked up with tears in her eyes, "Ginny, please. It was-" Hermione's voice hitched, "private."

        Ginny looked at her best friend in surprise. Hermione Granger hadn't cried in front of anyone since the night Harry died. Making up her mind not to press Hermione any further on the subject tonight, Ginny changed the subject to her new boyfriend, whom they picked apart for the rest of dinner.

  __

January 2nd 2004

        Draco's lips moved over her skin as if they had been waiting their own life to touch Hermione's body. His hands were tight at her waist, his fingernails slightly digging into her skin. Hermione's legs were shaking, which she would later curse as a moment of weakness. Harry's kisses had never felt like this.

        Draco moaned when she opened up her mouth to his and wrapped his arms around her in a crushing, possessive movement. One hand was tangled in her hair while the other clenched her shirt in his hand. Suddenly there was the sound of a door slamming outside of Draco's apartment. Hermione jumped away, latching on to that reminder of the outside world as her anchor.

        She backed up quickly and leaned her body against the wall opposite the one her and Draco had been leaning against. Hermione gasped for breath as Draco stared at her, breathing heavily.

        "We…we can't Draco."