Author's Note: This is a new thing for me. I've never actually tried a one-shot without it being a song-fic. So don't kill me if I do this wrong.

Summary: Hermione Granger has been spending her time in Paris. After getting fired from the Ministry for making such a commotion about how the Minister (Percy Weasley) was cheating on his wife, she has nothing better to do then mope around in the city. But what happens when a stranger takes her breath away…a stranger she's known her whole life.

Bee Stings and Butterfly Wings

Hermione Granger shoved her hands in her pocket and sighed looking up at the stars. There was nothing she could do to bring Ron back to her. There was nothing she could do to bring the whole Weasley clan back into her life. She had made a nuisance of herself, a nuisance of them.

Paris seemed like the perfect place to get away from it all but almost every witch and wizard in the world knew her now just because she had ruined Percy Weasley's reputation.

"I just wished I could have done something different, I wish I could have shut my mouth when the time was right. Now I have no job. Working was my passion." Hermione told the person standing next to her. Although she didn't know his name, he was the only wizard that was willing to listen. She didn't know anything about the fellow. "Now I have nothing."

"The ministry is a tough place to fit in and actually do something good at."

"How do you know?" Hermione said looking back at the stranger.

"I've worked there before but ended up losing my job to a better educated wizard." Hermione nodded and looked back at the Paris stars. They were so big and bright tonight; it almost felt like you could just reach up and catch one. Hold it there for that second and it'd be yours.

"I'm hungry," Hermione said.

The stranger and Hermione walked down to a local diner, where hopefully there would be something to fulfill her sweet tooth. They sat down in a both and looked at the menus.

"So, stranger, tell me a little about yourself." Hermione persisted looking at the sweet section of the menu. Everything looked so good but she didn't have much cash on her so she had to limit herself.

"Why?" The stranger asked. Hermione looked at him.

"Well I didn't just pour my heart out for nothing, did I? Obviously we should get to know each other a little better if I just told you my life story."

"But I already knew your life story." Hermione rolled her eyes and looked back at her menu. Maybe she shouldn't have told this stranger all of these things about her. Maybe he was just another crazy fan…a stalker perhaps?

Finally the waitress came and they were ready to order. Hermione looked at the stranger. "I don't know how to speak French,"

"I do, don't worry. What do you want?"

"Cherry pie," The stranger nodded and then looked back at the waitress.

"Pouvons nous obtenir à un pâté en croûte de cerise...un pâté en croûte réel cependant? Pas simplement une tranche." The waitress nodded and then walked off, taking the menus. Hermione stared at the stranger.

"How'd you learn to be such a good French speaker?"

"My mother taught me." Hermione nodded as a slow song in the juke box started to play. She swirled her straw in the glass of water the waitress had brought. She was thinking of Ron. When ever she and Ron were together and a slow song would play they would dance…anywhere and whenever.

She wondered why she had to go and break something so good, so valuable. But he had broken it too…just because his stood brother was cheating on his wife. She was in a dire situation. It was either lose her job for telling the world that she had seen Percy Weasley and some woman groping each other or she would lose it because they would lay her off. She thought there should be some more reason in the fact that she was going to get fired.

"Care to dance?" Hermione looked up at the stranger and nodded, as tears coated her eyes. He grabbed her hand and put his free one on her lower back. She rested her own free hand on his chest.

She looked up into his eyes. There was something so familiar about those eyes. This stranger was hiding a secret from her. Hermione mind flashed visions of her first kiss. She looked around the lonely diner as a tear drop ran down her face. Draco Malfoy had always teased her about how she would never get her first kiss, but finally in 7th year she planted a kiss on him so he would shut up. It was not the way she had planned her first kiss, but it worked. He had finally shut his mouth!

"Who are you?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know." The stranger replied. She looked back into his eyes. They were a deep, gray color. A cold color. Just like she had remembered.

"That's okay, because I still do." Hermione said pushing him away. Why didn't she see it? She had been spilling her heart out to Draco Malfoy. Not a stranger.

She walked out of the diner and into the night. Draco Malfoy had just blown his chance. Most wizards and witches hated her guts and now absolutely every witch hated his guts.

He stormed after Hermione. "Granger, wait." She stopped and turned around.

"What do you need me for, Malfoy? You always had everything so perfect and now you're trying to ruin my life even more? It feels like I could die right now and no one but you would even care because you never got to say those mean things that were left unsaid."

"That's not true, Granger. Maybe everyone hates us-"

"Why would they hate you? You're so perfect, aren't you?"

"I ruined our school if you don't remember, Granger." He said through gritted teeth, walking up to her.

Draco was a spy for some of the Death Eaters in their 7th year and when the time was right he had snuck most of the Death Eater population in the school. The school was no longer in working order after that.

"And if everyone hates us then we only have each other." Draco protested.

"No, not everyone hates me but everyone does hate you. Even the ex-Death Eaters! Why? Because you snuck them in at the wrong time and Harry kicked their ass."

"Oh please, if you hadn't heard my conversations over that stupid phone, Potter would have been dead by now and-"

"And what? You would have been married to Pansy Parkinson and you would have owned the whole world? If it weren't for me the whole world would have been dead by now because a lot of people still would have hated you, Malfoy!"

"No, I probably would have kept you around actually. You're a pretty decent person sometimes." Hermione stood there and glared at him. "But you interrupt people too much. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't heard those phone calls though. I'd be a hero to some people but most of the population of wizards and witches would have been wiped out. Too many people like Harry Potter."

Hermione huffed. She couldn't believe Draco Malfoy had actually just told her those things. He was such a cold hearted person trying to become a better person, and Hermione was trying to shut him down.

"Do you remember when you kissed me in 7th year?"

"Yeah, why?" Hermione said grimly.

"I had gotten stung by a bee on the lip that day."

"And-"

"I just thought you would have noticed and had made fun of me that day."

"Yeah well I wasn't feeling that great either. I killed a butterfly for its wings. There was no other way I could have finished my Potions homework though." Hermione said. Draco looked at her.

"We should probably eat that pie. I didn't just get a slice, I got the whole thing." Hermione nodded and they walked back into the diner together.

Author's Note: I wrote this fic because Hermione's world was crashing down on her and Draco's already had. But finally in Paris (cough, cough) he finally came clean about how he felt. So many things were left unsaid between the pair after that kiss. The real importance of this story is that I think everyone needs someone to depend on at a point in their life and Hermione needed some one real bad and Draco Malfoy was there for her. I don't think I will carry on with this fic because it's hard for me to carry on with a fic like this. There are so many things that could happen though.

Steph

P.S:

Pouvons nous obtenir à un pâté en croûte de cerise... un pâté en croûte réel cependant. Pas simplement une tranche: Can we get a cherry pie...an actual pie though? Not just a slice.