A/N: Alright, this one is going to be moderately longer. I hope. Thoughts are going to be in italics. If I spell 'magic' wrong ('magick'), Don't bite my head off, it's habit. Erm… Due to references to teen pregnancy and the language; This chapter is defiantly an "R" rated chapter. Also, I still can't get the editing thing to work out right. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be grateful because the editing thing shows the story as being fixed, but I post it and it comes up screwed up again.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to HP, all rights to that and other things belong to J.K. Rowling. Except for a few of my own charries and other ideas.

Chapter Three: Admissions and Other Things.

Boy, hell, the man standing in her doorway was anything but. He had become more broad shouldered; he was taller, less pale. Gray eyes seemed, if anything, more vibrant and alive. Dear Gods, he actually looked good! The pathetically pale, pinched and arrogant seventeen year old had been replaced by a sleek, sophisticated, and… Built twenty year old. She could tell, even through the robes and muggle-type clothing, that he was muscled, probably from years of Quidditch and exercising.

"Hello, Granger." Came the smooth, cool greeting, the greeting disrupted Hermione from her thoughts.

She lifted her chin a notch before answering him. "Mr. Malfoy. Take a seat and we can get started." Hermione waved an absent hand at the seat in front of her desk as she quickly charmed a quill and a few pieces of parchment to record the meeting.

Draco sat, stunned at the witch seated in front of him. This wasn't the girl he had last seen at Hogwarts. That girl had been pale, disheveled, and withdrawn. Her hair, which had grown longer and smooth while they had been at school, had been frizzy and had stuck up at odd angles during their graduating ceremony. This was no longer the know-it-all girl from his school days. This was a woman. One who knew what she was doing and wasn't going to put up with any bullshit from any one. Not even the infamous Draco Malfoy. The last of the Great Malfoy Line. 'Enough of this, Malfoy, you have business to attend to.' He thought to himself before arching an eyebrow and turning his attention to the matter at hand.

"I would like to know why my home is being raided by Aurors and Ministry officials, Ms. Granger. I have done nothing to deserve the attention of either group." Draco began slowly, leaning back in the cushy leather chair. Gray eyes bore into chocolate ones, challenging, demanding.

Hermione wasn't fazed, she simply crossed her legs, propped her chin in her cupped hand and looked him over serenely. Harry might have trusted him the last two years of their schooling, but she still had an issue with the man who had called her obscenities all throughout her school career. "As you well know, Mister Malfoy, there have been attacks and murders of purebloods in the past year. The culprit behind the attacks has slipped through our fingers more than once. We've come to the conclusion that Dark Magick is involved, and since you are the last one to really have any useful knowledge of it, we are just taking precautionary measures." She spoke slowly, as if speaking to a child. "I don't see why it is such a big deal. If you have nothing to hide, Mr. Malfoy, it should not bother you."

"No!" he exploded, "What bothers me is that even after I helped you and your Glory Gang defeat that bastard who dared to call himself 'Lord' anything, I'm still being patronized for the deeds of my demonic father!" Draco snapped in return, gray eyes turning to points of ice. He shook peroxide-blonde hair from his eyes before continuing. "I would never ever attack anyone. Especially not purebloods. For the love of the Gods, Granger, you think that after what happened to Ginny—"

She cut him off there, slamming her small fist onto the table. "Don't you ever say her name again, Malfoy! How dare you talk about Ginny Weasley as though you knew her! You knew nothing, and you know nothing!" Hermione practically yelled, leaning forward to glare at him. "You are nothing. Nothing more than a mass of scum. Scum from the fucking substructure of Voldemort's grave" She hissed softly.

Draco stared at her for a moment before tilting his head slowly. "I knew her. Better than you, better than her brothers. Even better than Potter did. She was supposed to tell Potter that day that it was over. Ginny and I had been seeing each other for a little over a year. She was pregnant. Or did they not tell you that in your God-forsaken reports?" he hissed softly, his eyes never leaving hers. "Pregnant with my child. The Malfoy heir. And she died. They both did. All no thanks to you and your pathetic Potter. He who had sworn to protect her with his life, and you who was suppose to help. You were off celebrating in Hogsmead when they were killed. Had I been able, I would have died in her place. As it was, I was locked in my father's dungeons for disobeying his orders and taking Potter to him."

The room grew still as he finished. Hermione sat in shock, her eyes wide. Ginny Weasley, pregnant? At sixteen? With Draco Malfoy's baby? This was too much. Information overload. One of her best friends had been a statistic. The girl would have graduated with she, Ron, Harry and the others had she survived. Her knowledge far surpassed those of her year, so she would have graduated early. But still… And she'd been cheating on Harry! The man she'd sworn she loved. She'd been having an affair really with Draco Malfoy, the man who had slowly wormed his way into Harry's close-knit group of friends. Both Draco and Ginny had betrayed Harry. As she sat there, her mind whirling with thoughts and accusations, Malfoy merely watched her, having withdrawn his verbal talons and quieted the now awoken dragon he'd just unleashed at her. This was too unbelievable. Had she not gone over the reports thoroughly enough? Had she missed something? How could she have been this blind? Oh Gods, she was going to faint. Thankfully, though, she managed to keep from loosing consciousness and humiliating herself in front of Malfoy. But she couldn't stop the tear from sliding down her cheek.

Draco noticed it and looked away, not wanting to be moved by the woman's antics. He knew he'd shocked her. He'd meant to. But the truth had to come out sooner or later. He'd taken Ginny's virginity, and her heart all in one summer. And though his sexual "pureness" was long gone before Ginny, she'd taken his heart quickly, easily. And now Granger knew. He'd had to tell her, and he knew that if she got a hold of Harry today, he would soon know as well. The fact of the matter was; he didn't give a damn. He'd quit giving a damn the day they had lain Ginny in the ground. Physically he was strong, unbreakable, and perfect. Mentally, he was slowly crumbling. He had just needed to tell someone, and that someone happened to be Hermione Granger, Girl-Wonder where Potter, the git, had been Boy-Wonder. But no matter how much Draco thought, he couldn't remember life without being Potter's friend. It had only been the last two years of school, but they had grown close. So close Weasel had grown perturbed and violent, even once sworn to "Avada Kedavra his scrawny Snake ass if he so much as breathed a word of betrayal towards Harry." Draco had found it amusing at the time, but now… Now he found it merely a foreshadowing of his life. He had, in a sense, betrayed Harry and the others at the school telling his father during a round with the Cruciatus Curse, spilling all of what he had learned during the secret meetings of the Order, which he had joined the summer he got out of Fifth Year, which he was still apart of today. Even if it was only a ghost of what it had been. He was interrupted by Hermione shifting in her seat and shuffling papers.

"Well… It's nice to know that you let us down in more than one way, Malfoy." Came the whisper-soft reply Hermione shot in his direction. When he lifted his eyes to hers, he saw that the chocolate-light brown was gone, replaced by a sort of brown-gold mixture. The change was amazing. She'd gone from large-and-in-charge-professional to school-girl-quiet in five minutes. He was almost shocked at the transformation.

"Yes. Well…I suppose I had better be going. Just know that I have had nothing to do with these attacks. Though if you would like my help, I would be willing to give it." Draco responded softly as he stood gracefully, extending his right hand to her.

She stood and took it, however carefully, warily. "Yes. I'll inform the Minister." Hermione said softly, her eyes on their hands. There were small tingles emanating from the contact of skin-to-skin. The tingles were working their way up her arm to her spine and slowly moving towards her lower stomach. Quickly, she snatched her hand back and lifted her eyes to his to see if he had felt it as well. His face was blank, his eyes were some-what darker, though that could have been from the outburst. "Thank you for coming. And it was nice seeing you again, Draco." She murmured before sliding back to her seat and picking up another stack of papers. Her head being bowed, Hermione missed the smile that briefly touched Draco's lips before he turned and swept from the room, closing the door softly behind himself.

As he quickly left the Ministry, Draco flexed his hand into a fist. That had been… odd. She had felt it too, that was for sure, the look on her face had been delectable; she had looked amazed, shocked, and then amusingly flustered with herself. Of course, he hadn't let her see what he had been feeling. He'd been trained young to not show emotion. Especially to those "below" himself. Though, she wasn't quite below him anymore. No, she had a steady job and a life. Whereas he had a fortune and he worked when he felt like it. Being the head to a prominent Wizarding law firm, which he had inherited from his father, had its pluses. Unfortunately, it didn't leave much time for a social life. Or much of a life at all.

Which wasn't really the problem; He had his share of women. And he was quite pleased with them, if he had to be honest. But always, if he felt they were getting too close, he would break it off. It always ended on good terms. No one left mad. He paid them well, really. The last one had received two hundred Galleons and a sapphire necklace. She had walked away happy and to this day, they were still friends. That had been two months ago. Perhaps that's what that had been. Just sexual tension. "No sex for a few months is going to send any man over the edge." He muttered to himself, earning himself a rather uneasy, yet hopeful, look from a nearby witch. Draco noticed and shot her a glare, shaking his head. "Women… And they claim that we're the sex crazed ones." He said bleakly before Apparating. When he reappeared in the manor, he looked around disgustedly at the dingy and frayed tapestries, the soot-covered walls and marble floors. Floors and walls that at one point had shone with vigor. Now, the entire house was in shambles, causing it's inhibitor to slowly follow suit.

Silently, he moved into the room that had once been his father's study and office. While the old man had owned it, the room had been decorated with the silver, green and black of Slytherins. However, Draco had changed the room to suit his fancy. The room was now done in black, blood red, silver and gold. It fit him. Fit his moods. Though the room was undergoing continual changes. And, for as much time as Draco spent here, he figured he might as well conjure a bed and the kitchen in here as well and he'd be set.

He smiled faintly at the thought before sitting, pouring himself a brandy, (the kind of Muggle alcohol Harry had gotten him obsessed with.) and relaxing as he sat, staring into the fire and wondering what Granger would be doing when she went home.