Draco Malfoy was gone from his home, and subsequently, Hermione's immediate vicinity for two weeks. She had no idea where he had gone, and the cell phone he had left her was forgotten in her bedroom. She missed him. After one morning of giving herself to him, she fundamentally missed him. Her body thrummed from his absence and she felt like she was always waiting for that first cup of coffee in the morning. She considered coffee, but always made her hot chocolate, glancing into his office to find it empty before she settled behind her desk and began taking calls, organising his schedule so all his missed appointments were rescheduled, and going over reports on projects the office had been tasked with doing.

When she got home that night, emotionally void and numb as she washed the day off her, she heard a neighbour's telephone trill.

"Cell phone." A lightbulb went on in her head. She read the manual to learn how to turn it on, when it didn't, she plugged it in. After ten agonising minutes, she turned it on again and this time, it powered on. She watched the bars load from no service and nothing happened. The little lightning bolt said 5% charged and she rubbed her eyes. She was tired now, emotionally, mentally, which took a toll on her physically.

She yawned. And suddenly the phone vibrated once, then twice, then a third time. She blinked as she saw Unread 3 on the screen. She used the arrow keys to open it and relief flooded through her. Three messages from Draco.

I'm sorry, I had to leave the country to see about a matter you will read about soon, no doubt. I cannot wait to see you when I get back. -DM

She didn't like to read anything about Draco when he was away. She liked not knowing because knowing tended to drive her into madness, incapable of doing her job.

I hope you're not mad at me, the article is lying. I'll be a few more days here. - DM

Hermione's heart skipped and a lump formed in her throat. She swallowed.

I'm sorry, love. I don't know if you truly are upset or if you haven't tried the new phone yet. It's been almost two weeks. Please, message me when you see this. - DM

Hermione's hands trembled as she read the messages. She had seen the article, she had immediately thrown the paper away when she saw the photograph. She decided it didn't matter anyway. Slowly, she pressed the numbers to get the right letters.

I'm sorry! I only just powered this on. I miss you. - HG

Her eyes were heavier than she expected, her lids closed despite her attempts to keep them open. She was so tired, she didn't feel the phone vibrate in her open palm ten minutes later.

The next morning, the message was simply a heart. She woke late, she had no time to respond, only to get ready. She was completely shocked when she heard voices coming from behind Draco's closed office door. She prepared tea and biscuits once she had settled, checked her calendar and saw that no one was scheduled to be in at that hour.

Balancing the tray, she knocked and heard him answer. Her stomach had gone to mush, she felt butterflies all the way to her throat. She pushed into the room and froze when her eyes met dark brown doe shaped eyes, both narrowing when Hermione came into view. She had seen her in photos, she had managed to keep her at arms length, to pretend she existed in a different dimension. Jealousy was easier to manage when you could throw a paper in the bin.

"I've brought you tea." She looked for Draco and found him scowling in his high backed leather chair. His body was rigid and he looked every bit the man the articles explained him as. He nodded, she shuffled with the tray, slid it onto her desk and ducked her head in a silent greeting to Astoria Greengrass.

Hermione's heart thundered against her ribcage, she could hear the roar of her blood in her eardrums. What was she doing here? In the months she's worked here, she had never seen her.

What the fuck ?

Ten minutes later, Astoria left the office, her eyes dark and eyebrows furrowed. She didn't even look at Hermione. Hermione wanted to go into his office, wanted to find out if everything was okay. But that went against everything they had talked about doing, how they agreed to behave at work if they were to continue with their-

The phone rang and she answered. She forwarded the call to Draco and then stared blankly at the calendar in front of her. It had been more than two weeks since that day in the DE Hotel. The longer it went on without their contact, physical, emotional, not counting the text messages, the longer that day felt cheap. The more she felt used. The more the desperation turned her blood to a thick mess inside her.

The day went on and she didn't see him. She heard him raise his voice, only muffled to her ears through the door. She brought him lunch, his berries as a treat, but each time he wasn't there. She pulled her purse onto her shoulder, double checked her work so that it was properly prepared for tomorrow and turned to leave.

"Granger." Hermione jumped. The door was cracked and his frame filled the opening.

"Sir." She responded, uncertain. Her purse slipped and she readjusted the strap. He gazed at her for a long moment and she felt heat bloom across her chest.

"Do you have a moment?" Draco opened the door further to make space for her. Hermione glanced around and found herself alone in a still office, everyday personnel already gone. She brushed past him feeling as tense as she had seen him earlier. She turned and gasped when his mouth met hers suddenly in a rough kiss, their teeth knocking together before she found their rhythm.

Then she pushed his chest and he stopped. Their chests rose as they grappled for breath. Hermione looked over his shoulder and was relieved the door was closed at least. She hadn't heard him lock it.

"What are you doing ?" She hissed. Draco's eyes were dark as he looked at her, his lips slightly parted and pink. "We agreed-"

"I missed you, Granger." He said breathlessly. "Bloody hell, I missed you so much."

Hermione rolled her eyes only half heartedly. She felt warm affection bloom in her chest and the blush that followed. "You can't do that here." Hermione's voice wasn't as sharp now, and Draco's face softened the longer he stared at her.

"I missed your hair, Granger." Draco laughed and stepped toward her, hand outstretched. His fingers brushed her hair back and tucked the curly strands behind her ear where it sprung free from after a second. "I missed that smell, the familiarity of you, the comfort." He stepped toward her again and tilted his head so his nose met her hair. He inhaled deeply and his body seemed to unravel even more. "I missed your wit-"

"My wit, sir?" Hermione pulled away to look at him; she held back a laugh.

"You're the smartest person I know, and I love talking to you." Draco brushed her lip with his thumb. "I don't like talking to many people, Granger, but you make living in my head worth it."

"Sir," Hermione quirked an eyebrow, ignoring the way he was looking at her, the way he touched her so carefully, "I regret to inform you that you're a Minister. Your job often means you're meant to talk to people."

Draco laughed and played with her hair some more. "Shut it, Granger. You know what I mean."

Hermione allowed their eyes to stay locked, his hands stilled at her jaw. Hermione stepped back and her thighs met his desk. "We agreed-"

"I know what we agreed to-"

"So why are you-"

"I can't keep-"

" She was in here earlier!"

He blinked at her. "Do you think that means anything?" Hermione shook her head, adrenaline had crept into her system at their hushed shouting match. "She's nothing, do you understand?"

Hermione nodded. His palm cupped her cheek, his thumb returned to her lips. "I missed you so much, Granger. You've bewitched me."

He had her caged. She willingly flew into an open door and chirped for him to shut it. He pushed her harder against his desk and he lifted her before he settled between her legs. He lowered his mouth to her ear, she could feel his breath hot and fast on her skin. "This feels familiar." She looked up at him and ached for his cock to slide against her.

"I should go home." Hermione hardly sounded convincing.

" I'm home, Granger. And you clocked out about ten minutes ago." Draco grinned in a manner that others might be convinced made him evil. She liked the way it split his face, making him less cold but somehow precise.

She had the fleeting thought that they should be upstairs, behind a locked and more private door, but that thought was lost in his mouth when he crashed into her and left her no room to think. He murmured that he missed her as he kissed along her neck and shoulder. His hands were busy in the dampness of her knickers.

Abandoning all reason, she gave in. She let her hands undo his trousers to free his already stiff cock and she grasped him just as he slipped two fingers into her. And as unoriginal as it occurred to her that they were being in their actions, she slid her hips forward and allowed him to slide his length into her.

She bit back a moan, and he grunted as they settled. They were noiseless, his hand slapped over her mouth as she came, and her palm felt the heat of his groan when he came not too long after her. He cleaned her with a monogrammed handkerchief that he pulled from his pocket. She stifled a laugh at the poshness of it. At the absurdity of what they did. Draco shifted about the room now as he fixed himself.

As Hermione gathered her purse and patted her body to ensure she was clothed properly, she heard the door open. She turned expecting to see Draco there, but it wasn't. Lori looked as surprised as Hermione felt. Draco shifted to block her quickly; she was properly dressed and the movement only made them look guilty. The door wasn't locked?

" Lore, I'll be there for dinner in a second. Ms Granger was catching me up on the schedule." Draco sounded too charming, he was overselling it. She willed him to shut up, but he kept going. Lori's eyes darted to Hermione who suddenly felt very naked. "You know, with me being gone for so long, the entire schedule was knocked off its feet." Shut up, shut up. She willed as hard as she could with a controlled, polite smile on her face.

"Will Ms Granger be joining you again for dinner, sir?" Lori asked. Hermione didn't like how she said the word again . Nor did Draco. He stood taller, and his voice became clipped.

"No, she will not." He turned to Hermione and she saw his cold mask slid back into place. "I think I have taken up enough of your time today, Ms Granger." Hermione nodded minutely and smiled as little as possible to him. "I will see you tomorrow."

Hermione ducked her head and kept her eyes forward once she was in the corridor to the front door. She refused to look guilty. That would only make this worse.

She wasn't stupid. She knew what she was doing, she had even listed the consequences to Draco on the day they first slept together. It had been such a long time since she was loved. Truly cared for, touched with such tenderness it ached in relief to be held at all. It had been so fucking long, she couldn't say no when it happened. Let alone to him. Love had no rules, their love shouldn't have rules. She shook her head as she got out of her taxi and climbed the staircase to her apartment. Love . She was an idiot. They couldn't be in love.

This wasn't what it was. He missed her. She stripped her clothing off and let the hot water filter through her hair. She felt the shadow of the throb of him filling her as she washed their time together away. He missed her more than she missed him. She scrunched her eyes up and screamed internally until it sounded like it was out loud.

When she ate dinner with the evening news on, her phone buzzed. She answered.

It was like they hadn't made an agreement at all. It was all for show and she let time slip through her fingers like sand. She lost count how many times she would walk into his office when his schedule was clear and kiss him on the lips. How many times she got on her knees to please him while he was on a phone call. How many times they had sneaked away to the library to fuck against the shelves of knowledge while the staff was non the wiser.

The cell phone was just a planner now. A planner intended for the sole purpose of when they would meet, how to be more careful but never really.

She never stayed the night, it was too risky for the house staff to notice. She never went into the bathroom she used to change into one of his shirts ever again. She never made it to the second floor landing.

They fucked on the kitchen counter. The conference table. She sat in his lap while he pretended his cock hadn't just slipped into her under her skirt. She made him tea and brought him his breakfast and lunch. She sat in on his meetings and took minutes while making suggestions on how to improve.

Together, they worked so impeccably well, she had no idea how to be without him any longer. They had become careless, but they weren't caught.

His monthly dinners still continued, and Hermione knew this because she always put it in his calendar. Mr Zabini's people always called to confirm, and she always penned it in. She never brought it up with Draco, afraid of every third Friday of every month.

If there was a noticeable shift in the way others on staff observed them, Hermione didn't notice. She thought maybe they had been too affectionate lately, more smiles, more passing touches, more eye contact when others were in the room. But that couldn't prove anything. She still felt sick with worry.

On a chilly day in December, Hermione was tasked with out of office errands. She was granted the time to also buy gifts for her family and friends along with simply picking up the already paid for gifts that Draco had bought or ordered. She was aware that she might be picking up her own gift but she tried to not think about it. She knew he was thoughtful enough that he'd probably shop for her personally.

She thought this until she walked into the Jewellery shop in Diagon Alley, a shopping mall that had a quirky array of stores including this Jewellery store that custom made their pieces, and were credited with many an heirloom. It was dark, the smell was earthy and floral. Jewels, gold, silver, metals of all shades sparkled as they refracted the lights in their glass boxes.

A man with an honest to Merlin monocle was eying her as she navigated the floor space.

"Can I help you, miss?" She didn't miss his poorly hidden reproachment. His lip had twitched minutely, and she smiled warmly as she chose her words carefully.

"Office of Minister Draco Malfoy, here to pick up an item that was paid for under this order number." She slipped him a receipt. His face twitched again and he took it from her. He dipped behind his desk, flipped through a book, and verified as she knew he would, the information to be correct. His eyes slid from the receipt to her, and she hugged her still chilled body because the goddamn place was air conditioned and they weren't pushing heat yet.

"Come this way, miss." Hermione heard his resentment in having judged a book by its cover and still having to serve. She followed him and watched as the jewellery became even more extravagant. He ducked below and came up again with a beautiful, green velvet box, wrapped with a shimmering ribbon. Her heart expanded so fast, it was difficult to control her face. She thought she would lift off the floor and float away. He had bought her a ring? That was so fast.

Then the man slid the papers forward and Hermione saw it was a crest. It wasn't Malfoy's crest, but someone else's. She looked up at the attendant and he looked smug that he had baffled her. Hermione swatted her annoyance away because she wanted to know what it was.

She took it and brought it up to her face while she tried to wilt the attendant with her stare.

"What is it?" Hermione asked. She knew this was a power play, she knew she wouldn't know what was in the box otherwise, that this random attendant wanted to exercise his mediocre power over her.

"The Greengrass crest was asked to be incorporated into the design." Hermione's ears began to ring. "And inside the band, is the Malfoy motto." She was an idiot. "I suppose you're just… collecting the item for Mr Malfoy," Hermione wanted to disappear. "So you cannot identify for us if we have done it to the Minister's satisfaction?"

The attendant mistook Hermione's wordlessness and general shock as one of him winning. Hermione didn't smile at him. She slid the paper back onto the glass counter and took the box. she stuffed it into her pocket with a trembling hand and clenched it until her palm hurt.

She didn't remember getting back to the office.

Without knocking, she entered his office; all the bags hanging off her arms like weird elbow extensions. She dropped them to the floor. "I did it for you." Hermione said, unsmiling. Draco, who had upon seeing her had seemed to hardly register her, straightened slightly. His eyes flickered off to the left, but Hermione levelled him with her stare. She unclenched her hand finally and blood rushed back into her fingertips like a million needles. He leaned forward, took it, slipped the ribbon free, opened the box and shut it again. His eyes snapped back up to hers and Hermione almost crumpled. No reaction. He had been playing her? He didn't have her back at all.

She had been dreaming and this was the ice bucket to wake her.

"Ms Granger." Hermione's eyes ached, her stomach twisted into a knot, her lungs were simultaneously too inflated for her ribcage and held no air at all. Draco remained unfeeling, cold as he rested his chin on his hand and gestured with the other. "I don't think you'd have the pleasure of meeting my father."

Hermione looked around and saw a man, the image of Draco, but older with long hair in curtains parted in the middle. He had a snottiness Hermione had only seen on Draco's face whenever he was faced with a slew of paparazzi. She wilted under his glare. She could see he was asking without words, who she was. She felt his contempt like a slap.

"Hermione Granger, my executive assistant, Father." Draco addressed the question like he was holding a conversation.

"Don't you mean, secretary?" Mr Malfoy looked down his chin at her, and she saw the reason she had missed him completely was because he had been tucked into the cabinet where the alcohol was kept. A glass of amber liquid was being swirled by his delicate fingers; the motion looked so elegant.

"Actually, father. Executive assistant has been imple-"

"I do not care." Mr Malfoy said. He sounded as every bit bored at Hermione as if she were a dreadfully poor golf game. Draco pursed his lips and Hermione saw the colour splotch onto her perfectly smooth skin.

"Thank you for collecting it all, Ms Granger. I appreciate your time." Draco rose and walked her to the door. She willed him to touch her, anything to tell her that they were okay. That she was wrong to assume it was an engagement ring.

"Why, Draco." Mr Malfoy said with an ice cold blade of a delivery. Hermione felt it slide into her spine and she paused because Draco had. She glanced at him and his eyes gave nothing away. "Have you tried the ring on an actual hand? The design you wanted for Astoria was positively ghastly."

"Father, I told you I was-"

"Now now, Draco." His father chastened him. 'Her hands look," She couldn't see him pause, or the expression he wore, but she could imagine it, "elegant enough. About the right size."

Hermione wanted to throw up. She looked at Draco to see if there was any indication of what she should do, or where she should go. Did she have to? Draco's eyes narrowed slightly as he studied her face. He shook his head very slightly, almost unnoticeable before he shut the door. "You don't get to play cruel games on my employees, father." His voice was muffled, but he said it with strength.

Hermione could still hear them through the door. She was frozen in place still and her blood immediately felt impure. Mr Malfoy's smooth voice rang loud enough for her to hear even from his distance. "Oh, Draco. Can't you see the little thing is smitten with you?" He didn't sound like he pitied her at all, he sounded like he wanted to pick at open wounds until they festered and rotted her corpse.

Her feet finally carried her out of the office, into a cab, and back into her loft. When her phone rang, she ignored it and instead, curled up in bed after a warm bath and slept.

A loud knock that rattled the hinges of her door woke her. She glanced at the clock beside her bed and made out it was after nine. Ginny, Harry, and Ron were all still in France. She was still alone. She had not ordered anything. For a blissfully unaware minute, she had forgotten why she was asleep before ten pm in the first place. She opened the door to a panting Draco Malfoy in his shirt without a tie. Like he had run here immediately from the office.

Hermione shut the door. His foot blocked it.

"Listen to me."

"Why should I?" She walked away from him.

"I'm not marrying her!" He stepped into her apartment and it infuriated her.

"Who are you kidding? You've been seeing her at least once a month that I know of!" Hermione felt the shrillness of her own voice and flinched.

"What are you talking about?" He asked bitterly, but confused nonetheless.

"Mr Zabini's office has been calling to confirm every month that you would be attending the dinner for four. She's always there, isn't she?" Hermione lowered her voice with effort, now she was spitting her words at him with venom.

"No-" His eyes had widened when her words registered, "I mean, she is, but I haven't been going!"

"Bull shit ." Hermione was fully awake again and every bit as angry as she was when she collected the ring in the first place. "Why would he keep calling and arranging this if you weren't still going-"

"Fucking Blaise. He's persistent! He's friends with Astoria and he doesn't know about you-" Draco stepped toward her again.

" Convenient for you, no one knows about me. Mutually assured destruction, remember?" She would never, but she was aiming to hurt him. If not with actions, with words.

"I have not been with anyone but you from the day that I kissed you." Draco said calmly.

"You're lying. I saw the photos! You were with her all the time. You weren't in the country for two weeks! And when you were away, you were photographed with her again!" Hermione felt all her stupidity flow back into her, all the things she had ignored and convinced herself that it was part of the deal. It wasn't about I love yous as she had said, but somehow, this is what it was now. She was stupid. She knew it.

"She was refusing to end the relationship." Draco shook his head. "I was done with her, she was refusing to corroborate the story of a mutually decided ending to the relationship, she was holding onto hope Hermione, but her hope is misguided!"

"You bought her a bloody ring!" Hermione held her hand up and pointed at her own ring finger. Why didn't he understand how fucked up this was? That what they had been doing was wrong and they knew it and they needed to acknowledge it now.

"I bought her that ring because we had been dating for 5 years. I intended to propose, but then you spilled hot chocolate on me. You challenged me. You snapped me out of my dream and into the waking world. You made me believe I could have it all." Draco was panting. She had only ever heard him raise his voice through a closed door, and this Draco, she realised, didn't scare her. His walls were down, he wasn't cold and controlled. Every emotion he felt was exposed, raw on his face.

Hermione laughed. "You want me to believe that while you've been sleeping with me, you have not been sleeping with Astoria Greengrass?"

"And you've been sleeping with me even though you thought I was with someone else?" Draco looked like she had slapped him. "I could never-"

"I love you, you daft idiot. I will follow you anywhere if you'd have me." The words rang into the silence, their breathing and the television was white noise to the hollow echo that was her apartment.

He stared at her. He walked toward her, a smile splitting his face. She could hear and feel their breaths mingling. "You love me?"

"I love you." Hermione said it and it was like breathing air after inhaling water. "You left her, for me?"

"I love you. I'll follow you to the ends of the earth." Draco pressed his forehead to hers. "If I marry anyone, it would be you. I broke it off with Astoria that night you asked me to kiss you. I am not a cheater, Granger. I could never do that to you."

Hermione pressed her face into his shoulder, letting their thrashing hearts come to calmness beside each other as they hugged and breathed. She almost burst out laughing at how messy everything could have gotten if she truly did want to tank his career. If she didn't love him.

Hermione resigned from the office of Minister Draco Malfoy for the new year with high recommendations. She was recruited to be vetted as a consultant for policy making by several Ministry offices by the end of January.

While in day to day meetings with those who wanted to know her, to hire her, she disappeared into France. There, she found her best friends and shared their love of the country.

She introduced them to her fiance, Draco Malfoy, before it was to be announced to the rest of the world later that year. Their only scandal? An heiress who had a poor time convincing the media they were together despite not being photographed together for nearly a year.

Draco Malfoy married Hermione Granger in the winter, her dress a burgundy showstopper, his suit a deep grey with emerald accents. It was a small affair.