Hermione tried to get up without rousing Draco, but he must have been awake already because when she tried to scoot away, he wrapped his arm tighter around her waste pulling her back into him.

"Going somewhere, Angel?"

"I was trying not to wake you up." Hermione was trying desperately to ignore the morning bulge that was pressed against her. Draco held her close and breathed her in. It had been so long since he had woken up like this and he had missed it like nothing else in his life.

Draco was rapidly regaining his strength, so Hermione went to the kitchen to get some breakfast ready while he dressed. She and Harry had only guessed about his clothing size because Draco and Harry were roughly the same size. When he came into the kitchen he looked great though. The muggle jeans were a little loose and the t-shirt was a little small, but Hermione wasn't complaining.

"Well, now, don't we clean up nicely?" She said. "I always knew you had it in you."

"So when do we have to go to the Ministry?" he asked. He no longer wanted to avoid the issue. He had business to attend to and it needed to be done now.

Hermione had not told him about the owl she received the day she brought him home. They were to go to the Ministry as soon as she and Draco were well enough. They would both be brought in front of the council to testify and sanctions, if any, would be levied then. They agreed that they both needed another day to rest. "Tomorrow is Thursday, I will owl Lupin and tell him that we will be at the Ministry Friday. Lets just enjoy now."

That evening, Draco had a bad case of cabin fever. He had been up walking around the apartment all day and he begged Hermione to take him out for a while. They walked down the crowded boulevard at dusk. Draco was curious about everything. They stopped in a café and had dinner on the patio. Then they walked to the park.

Draco watched in wonder as Hermione exchanged a wad of muggle money for a brown paper sack. She led him to a bench among the trees where they sat down. She took a small handful of the bag's contents and tossed it out in the grass.

"What are you doing? Giving the birds some sort of potion?" Draco quizzed.

Hermione doubled over in laughter. "No," she laughed, her eyes were full of tears and her sides hurt from laughter. "I am feeding the birds."

Draco stuck his hand in the bag and got a little. Hermione looked back at the birds gathering around them.

"Phhth!" Draco hissed and spit. "This shit is disgusting!" Hermione couldn't quit laughing.

"You aren't supposed to eat it! It's birdseed. It's for the birds, of course you don't eat it."

Draco blushed with embarrassment and went back to giving the seed to the birds. When it was dark and the birdseed was gone they returned home. Hermione went to the shower leaving Draco alone for the first time in days. He promised to do nothing more strenuous than watch TV until she was done. Hermione's shower was quick and she listened to Draco the whole time. He was sitting on her sofa again laughing out loud at some program.

She emerged wearing nothing more than a towel wrapped around her torso. Her hair fell in soft, wet waves down her back. Draco couldn't believe how sexy she was now. She had been cute when they were at Hogwart's, but Merlin, she was hot. Even with a wounded body and ego, he was still male. He had slept with a lot of women under the Imperius curse. But that hadn't been him. He could never willingly treat a human being like that. And he certainly hadn't gotten any satisfaction from it. She shut herself in her bedroom for a little bit, Draco missed her already, but after all she had done for him, she deserved a little privacy, so he stayed put. When she went in the bedroom, Draco was sure that he had never seen her look better, but when she came out, she did look better. She had put a straightening and a drying spell on her hair and wore satin pajama pants and cami. She plopped down onto the couch next to him. Her skin glistened with freshness and her hard nipples poked into the satin. When the smell of lavender reached him, he couldn't stop himself. He reached over and caught Hermione's cheek.

………………………………………………………………………………………………