I'm glad you guys liked the ending of Ron-Pansy and you're guesses are quite good! I'm excited to start this new chapter. If I've made any other mistakes, please don't hesitate to point them out as Obnoxiously Peachy Twit 2008 so thankfully did for me!

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Here is the next chapter.

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After a long uncomfortable silence, Cho announced that her, Ron and Harry should go or they would be late for a meeting with the Minister of Magic.

Hermione waved goodbye, but wished they were sitting with her. The discomfort and unease that sizzled in the air between her and Draco was unbearable.

She didn't know if he was looking at her or not because she was afraid of what would happen if she met his silvery gaze. His admission had been firm; he had meant what he said. But did she?

It came as a shock when she realised she didn't mind the idea of spending her life with Draco, she had said she was in for a marriage. And yet, a million arguments erupted in her head the moment she began to consider it.

Her entire life? They had only been together a few months and they had already encountered more drama than some people did in their whole lifetime. The media, their arguments; their differences.

That was what held them back before, so did that mean they had put aside differences? Is that why they were getting along? Or perhaps they had changed.

He had changed. She had no question inside her about that.

But had she changed? Would she put her past behind her for the sake of the man beside her?

"You shouldn't feel obligated to marry me." Draco spoke, his tone impossible to read.

Hermione found that she had nothing to say. She could not convey her feelings to him in simple words; it would have been ridiculous to try.

He took her long silence as an admission that she had made a mistake; he had begun to think it must indeed be too much to hope for. "We should go."

She turned to him then, taking in his slightly melancholy expression. He was seated in what appeared to be a casual position on a large chair, but his eyes and mouth; hidden from the public, were anything but.

She saw disappointment there, regret mixed with embarrassment. "Where?" She found herself asking.

"Home."

'Home' she thought. The word echoed in her head, it was their home; they were living in a giant Manor together. He had given her the task of re-decorating it. If he hadn't meant to marry her then, was he simply planning on changing everything back when they had separated?

No. He knew, he knew a long time ago he wanted this. Why hadn't she?

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"That was interesting." Cho commented when they had left the stuffy vicinity of the Leaky Cauldron.

Harry couldn't agree more. "Yes, I don't think Hermione knew that one was coming."

"He said he was serious about it though." Cho added, stepping out onto the street.

Ron was walking along side them, thinking "Do you think Hermione was serious?"

Cho and Harry frowned simultaneously. "Maybe she is, we don't know what Draco is like when they are alone."

"That's true." Harry nodded, glancing up at Ron. "Do you think she is?"

"It's hard to say; a few months back she would have been glad to hex him into oblivion, now she can't seem to pull herself from his side." Ron shrugged.

Harry chuckled slightly "I'm sure we all had our times when we passed the time by thinking of every possible way to kill Malfoy."

"You know, maybe Hermione isn't." Cho broke through the conversation suddenly.

Harry looked to her sharply "Why not?"

"Well there was that guy she used to see, remember him?"

Ron nodded, feeling a hint of anger at the memory "He was a right bastard, that one."

"What about him?" Harry asked as they walked down the street and out into muggle London.

Cho raised her eyebrows "It's obvious isn't it?"

"No." Ron stated simply.

Cho sighed, "She's got to be feeling wary after him, he didn't exactly treat her as respectfully as we hoped."

"That's an understatement." Ron muttered but the other two heard him clearly.

"I just think that the worst thing Draco could do is try to push her into this." Cho finished.

"He won't." Harry assured her, knowing that he would stand up to Draco if he was forcing Hermione to marry him. 'I'm such a damn hypocrite.' He thought with a bitter laugh.

"Well that's what I think anyway." Cho glanced at her watch "We better hurry." They set off to the ministry together, thoughts of Hermione and Draco always present.

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"Would Miss Granger like anything to drink?" Bea asked squeakily. She was a short, stumpy house elf that had been in the service of the Malfoy's for many years.

"No thank you, you may go." Hermione waved her hand carelessly at the door and watched to elf scuttle out of the room.

Since they had returned, Draco had been in his study and hadn't come out. She didn't know what he was doing in there and wasn't particularly interested in finding out.

A lot of confusing emotions were whirling through her head and she needed this time to sort them out.

Scepticism. She knew Draco was a changed man, he was capable of caring and following morals, but was he ready for ultimate dedication to her? A part of her worried about his commitment to her; his reliability.

She was yet a young woman, she had a life to live and so many things she wanted to do; was marriage something she really wanted? Maybe later.

Or now. What was so wrong with now? She had always thought she would marry a man she had fallen in love with straight away, but things don't always go the way you want them to.

Which led her to think that their marriage may not be as sweet and nice as Draco imagined it to be. They had only been going out for a few months; it seemed like such a hasty decision now she thought about it clearly.

"Draco?" Hermione knocked gently on his study door, wondering if he was still awake at this late hour.

"Yes, come in." She heard him say calmly.

When she entered and closed the door behind her, she could feel the warmth of the fire behind her and it surprised her.

'Another reason why this is a bad idea.' She thought. Draco was always associated with ice and coldness; she couldn't be a good wife or even fiancé if she still thought of him as a cruel, cold being.

"Hermione?" He was sitting on a large armchair, a book in his hand.

"Yes." She went to join him, feeling that perhaps she should have lit a fire in the lounge.

"Are you alright?" He inquired, drawing his eyebrows together as he looked at her.

She nodded "Yes, I'm quite fine."

They looked at each other for a while, taking in the bouquet of emotions that had fallen between them since that conversation.

"About the marriage," Hermione began slowly "I think you should know that I agree it is part of us."

"You want to get married then?" He questioned, as though puzzled.

"No." His face fell, despite all the efforts he put into hiding it, Hermione could see everything. "It's not that I don't feel anything for you, Draco." She reassured.

"Of course." His voice had become more distant.

"I just think," Hermione ploughed on, knowing she would soon lose her nerve "that we aren't ready for that yet. Maybe later on, when we have been together longer and know each other better."

Draco sat, motionless. She expected disappointment and perhaps humiliation at being rejected as such. But that wasn't what she got; he gave her nothing.

The thought ringed in her head, bringing back memories she had tried to forget. 'No, he has given me so much.' She said harshly to herself.

"You're right." Draco's voice broke through her thoughts. He had agreed and was to some extent smiling at her.

"I am?" She blurted in shock.

He gave her a quizzical look "Yeah, it is quite fast isn't it?"

They paused, the tension was easing but Hermione still found that she felt as though she had let herself down. Was she just being over-cautious? No, she was making the right decision, she thought firmly.

"Yeah…Do you want some dinner?" She asked, looking around to the door where a house elf rushed past, no doubt to finish off a task it forgot to do.

Draco closed his book and smiled "Yes, I'm quite hungry."

He linked arms with her, leading her out to the dining room where their gourmet dinner was waiting.

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Draco,

It's Harry, I wanted to talk to you about Malfoy Inc. I've been hearing a lot of rumours about it's financial position lately and thought we should discuss it. Of course I don't expect you to tell me every little detail, I just want to know that things are progressing.

I've stressed before the importance of keeping the business alive and hope you're dealing with everything alright.

Owl me back to let me know when you're free.

Harry

Draco breathed out loudly; it was only a matter of time before someone leaked. He had been expecting it but that didn't make it any easier to accept.

Hermione had been pursing the opening of Malfoy Communications with determination and had successfully closed off the deal, giving them sole ownership of the land and business operations.

Glad that he had something to tell Potter rather than "Yes I'm getting on to that".

Potter,

I am free tomorrow, perhaps we should share a dinner with Hermione and you can invite Chang, I know you are after her; it's painfully obvious.

We shall see you tomorrow then.

Draco

He didn't know why he couldn't call Harry by his first name. It seemed so strange, though calling Weasley "Ron" hadn't been exactly natural instinct. Making amends with Ron was much easier than extending his hand of friendship with Potter.

"Draco? What's that?" Hermione asked, entering the room.

Since moving into the Manor, both had remained in wizarding robes and Draco had painstakingly taken her to every shop he knew that sold robes. She had picked a wide variety of colours and styles, revelling in what she called "a new breed of shopping".

Today she wore a navy blue robe with black trim. "You look nice." He found the compliment rolling off his tongue rather easily.

She smiled "It's nice isn't it?" she turned around casting him a playful grin.

"We're going to dinner with Potter and maybe Chang tomorrow." He announced, sending Gabrielle off out the window.

"Oh? What for?" Hermione stepped closer to him and reached for Harry's letter.

He let her read it while pacing the length of the drawing room. "When will you start re-decorating?"

She looked up frowning slightly "I don't know, when the business is all set up I suppose. I have been thinking about it though." She added slyly.

Draco tilted his head in question "Really?"

"Yes, I was thinking about out room," She began stepping closer to him "it's rather dark and quite imposing."

"I remembering it being nothing less." Draco admitted wryly.

She laughed "Yes, well I thought we should lose the dark curtains and hang maybe crème or off-white drapes. What do you think?"

"Crème? You think it will suit the room?" He flicked his wand and lit the fire.

"Yes, I think it will, I have plans for the rest of the room of course." Hermione leaned in and wrapped her arms around his waist; he automatically found his arms circling her frame.

The muffled sounds of house elves cleaning could just be heard over the soft crackling of the logs in the fire. Outside, a few birds twittered as they flew past the open window.

"Do you ever think about the war?" Hermione whispered, her cheek resting on his chest as she stared into the fire.

Draco stiffened slightly "I try not to."

Hermione asked no more and they fell into a comfortable silence.

After a while Hermione spoke again, softly, her voice barely audible over the crackling flames, "If it wasn't for the war, you wouldn't be here with me."

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"Harry?" Cho starred at the fire place where a slightly dishevelled Harry had just Flooed in. He was brushing dust of his robes as he smiled at her.

"Yes, I was wondering if you had a moment."

She nodded "Yes, sure. Come in."

He stepped out of the fire place and sat down on the couch, not feeling a hint of the awkwardness he felt when he first had a crush on Cho.

"We've been invited to dinner." He said.

"With who?" Cho conjured a tray of drinks and scones on the coffee table.

Harry took a cup gratefully "Draco and Hermione."

Cho glanced up "Is everything alright with them?"

"Yeah, I think things are going really well actually. We're going to talk about Malfoy Inc."

"Oh." Cho nodded and took a bite of her scone. "I heard some things about that, luckily it hasn't reached the Prophet yet."

Harry had to agree "It would cause such uproar."

Cho smiled "You like him now don't you? He's changed."

"Yes he has, I don't know if I would trust him with my life, but he's not half bad." Harry confessed gently.

Cho looked at him carefully "It's good that you can forgive him."

"I don't." Harry replied shortly "That doesn't mean I don't think he's changed for the better."

She drank from her cup, all the while looking at him closely "None of us will ever forgive him."

He was about to agree when a thought occurred to him, "Hermione might."

Well that's all from me for now, I hope you've enjoyed it!

Draco is proving hard to develop, I don't want to change him too fast. Do you agree with me? Or do you think I'm going too slow?

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Thank you so much!