It was just a few minutes before ten in the morning, that found Hermione walking towards her favorite sweet shoppe on the Rue de Magique. She wasn't exactly sure if Draco would be here today or not, but on some level she was hoping he'd make the effort.

The last few days had given her some much needed time to reflect upon her current predicament, as well as go over her last conversation with her Father. He'd left their home the following morning after their talk early, leaving on business for the South of France—which relegated her to her studies, and that had been a welcome distraction as it always was when she was feeling on edge.

But now, as she turned right and headed down the small alleyway towards her destination, her eyes caught on a shock of stark blonde hair that was glistening in the sunlight of the early morning.

Draco was turned away from her, and for a few precious moments, she was able to observe him unimpeded. He was wearing a flattering set of Wizarding robes, in black, which was his preferred look. He'd almost regained the weight he'd lost from the war, and seemed to have grown a couple inches too, now that she was paying proper attention. He was a head taller than Harry, who was about three inches taller than her and where Harry was more muscular, Draco was all lithe lines and restrained aggression.

She'd never been immune to Malfoy's looks in school. His aristocratic appearance, pale locks and piercing grey eyes were the talk of many a witch back at Hogwarts, even those from within her own house. Malfoy wasn't one of those wizard's whom openly played the field, at least not that she'd heard. Oh, there had been a salacious rumor during the end of their fourth year, that someone had seen Malfoy and Adrian Pucey locked together in a heated snog, but no one had believed it.

Now she was avidly wondering if there wasn't some truth behind those rumors.

Harry, who had dated Cho Chang and then Ginny briefly, had also shared with her back during their fifth year, that he'd had a fleeting attraction to Richie Coote, who was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team before the older wizard had graduated that same year. Harry had never given her specifics, and at the time, she didn't feel it was her place to ask, but now?

Perhaps this thing between she, Malfoy and Harry wasn't as hopeless as she'd initially assumed.

At that moment, Draco's gaze lifted towards her, and his tell-tale smirk fell over his face, his eyes avidly taking in her appearance.

She'd chosen her outfit for today with tremendous care. The dress was a soft green empire-waisted sundress that fell to just above her knees, with three-inched wedged sandals, that were a soft creme, her hair done up in a French twist, and her trusty beaded bag dangling from her left hand.

Draco sauntered in her direction, meeting her half-way, before reaching for her right hand and placing a gentle kiss on the back of her knuckles in deference.

"Bonne matinée, ma femme."

(Good morning, my lady)

"Bonne journée à vous, gentil monsieur."

(Good day to you, kind sir)

Draco's smirk widened a bit, before he shook his head, almost in bemusement.

"Je sais que ça ne devrait pas être une surprendre, à quel point tu parles français, mais je ne peux pas m'empêcher d'être un peu étonné par ça."

(I know it shouldn't be a surprise, how well you speak French, but I can't help but be a bit amazed by it)

She giggled at him, and then replied, "Je sais que c'est probablement un peu étrange, vu que je ne l'ai jamais parlé à l'école."

(I know it's probably a little strange, seeing as I never spoke it back in school)

"A bit," he responded back in English, "I've been so used to thinking of you as Granger, and I suppose it's my own fault for being so close-minded for all those years. I've always known you were brilliant, Hermione, but..."

His voice immediately fell away, and deciding to take a measure of pity on him, she reached for his hand and was pleasantly surprised when Draco allowed the easy gesture. His eyes warmed slightly, his gaze penetrating as he stared at her.

"It's in the past, yes?"

"Yes." He agreed evenly.

"I know we can't undo our shared past, Draco—but this here, is our future. I just need to know that you're going to be willing to put forth the same effort into this, that I am. I'm not going to ask for big declarations from you, but I'm going to ask that you at least give me the same respect and kindness you would like in return. Can you do that?"

He nodded, replying sincerely, "I can."

"Good."

She tugged his hand slightly, and he lifted a pale eyebrow, before taking her hand and wrapping her arm within his, as propriety demanded. She smiled softly at him, and allowed him to lead her along the alleyway, towards the 3rd arrondissement, where Master Flamel's shoppe was located.

Once they'd reached 51 rue de Montmorency, Draco opened the door for her, the bell chiming above, announcing their arrival.

"Bonjour, Hermione!"

"Bonjour, Madame Pernelle, comment vas-tu aujourd'hui?" (how are you today?)

"Très bien, et qui est ce monsieur que vous avez avec vous aujourd'hui?"

(Very well, and whom is this gentleman you have with you today?)

"Draco Malfoy, my intended." Hermione replied back in English, and almost laughed when Madame Pernelle's eyes widened in surprise.

Draco however, bowed in greeting, offering kindly, "It's an honor to meet you, Madame."

Pernelle smiled sweetly, her blue eyes sparkling with mirth, as she responded back in English, "It is good to meet you as well, young Master Malfoy. I must apologize for my initial reaction, as I tend to avoid the papers. Are you helping dear Hermione with her studies?"

"She is allowing me to, yes. I've always had a love for Alchemy, so this has been a very pleasant surprise to find that Hermione and myself share such a rare interest."

"Well, it's not a subject for everyone," Pernelle admitted with a playful wink, before offering, "I'm afraid Nicolas is elsewhere today, but he did leave some books, journals and few scrolls for your perusal, Dear."

"Excellent," Hermione nodded pleased, "I brought back most of the other materials, except his journal on his modifications to Libatius Borage's text notations on Everlasting Elixirs."

"Ah yes," Pernelle hummed thoughtfully, "that one was a particularly good read." She waddled over to a small bookshelf towards the back wall, and pulled out a small black book, handing it over, "This is a compendium to that journal, discussing the properties of certain venoms, anti-venoms and their healing properties."

Hermione took the small journal, her brow furrowing in thought, while Draco cocked his head for a moment, wondering just how the two would be related, when an inspired thought came to his mind.

"Madame Pernelle, is there a full accounting of all venomous plants, and other living species used for your research within that journal?"

"It's quite comprehensive, why do you ask?"

"Well, venom does have some rejuvenating properties, but only in certain species. Bees, for example, the toxin of their sting isn't quite as potent as others insects, spiders or ants. Snakes have greater toxicity, in some cases, but only because they produce more venom in their bite. Is there a corresponding toxicity-potency index?"

Hermione gazed up at Draco, completely stunned at how quick and brilliant his mind was in extrapolating information.

"There is some information present. When Nicolas and myself created the Sorcerer's Stone, we used the venom from a magical species that is now extinct, but it does have a closely related cousin."

"Boomslang, yes?"

"Yes, Master Malfoy, how did you know?"

Draco felt Hermione's hand gripping his arm, so he chose to direct his response to her.

"Severus did extensive research on the properties of Boomslang venom. As you know, Salamander's blood is highly prized in many potions, Wiggenweld for one, but Wolfsbane is another. It has regenerative properties, and why it's used in blood replenishing potions as a consequence. There are however, other species of salamanders that can actually regenerate parts of their bodies, limbs, spinal cord—perhaps that's the missing piece? Finding the right combination of venom and blood regeneration properties, right? Blood is life, it's what transports everything within our bodies. Without blood flow, we're dead, so the panacea, in theory, would have to work seamlessly with the blood to be able to repair, and regenerate."

Hermione stared at Draco completely flummoxed for several seconds, as her brain tried to process what he was postulating, but that was nearly secondary to how turned on she was right at this moment. She'd always known that Malfoy was intelligent, he was just a few points behind her in most of their classes, but she'd never given it any more consideration than the cursory, because he'd always been such a craven bully and a pompous git (not necessarily in that order, either).

But now, she could admit that deep down inside, she'd always been secretly impressed by his prowess when it came to academics, and how seamlessly he could extrapolate information to arrive at the kind of conclusions he did, just like now.

A quick glance at Pernelle, reaffirmed that the woman was just as impressed with her intended, which was even more disconcerting.

Draco's expression however, was a cute mixture of smugness and eagerness, almost as if he was waiting expectantly for her reaction.

She couldn't help the beaming smile that broke out over her face, and saw his shoulders deflating slightly, almost as if he were relieved by her reaction.

"You're brilliant, you do know that, yes?" She whispered emotively.

He just winked, but his countenance was more than pleased by her comment, which caused her to giggle softly at how adorable he could be, when properly encouraged.

"That is an interesting theory," Pernelle offered after a moment, before she left the front of the shoppe, and came back a minute later with another smallish journal in her hands, "this is a detailed accounting of some of the various salamander species and their blood properties we used for our initial trials."

Pernelle handed it over to Hermione, and she nodded her thanks, before taking her box out of her beaded bag, and placing the new journals inside, warding it, and then putting it back. When she glanced up, Draco was watching her with an almost fond look, and she smiled again softly, before taking his proffered arm, and once their goodbyes were made, with promises of returning in three weeks, he led her back outside.

They walked for a few moments in silence, before he asked lowly, "Lunch?"

Her gaze lifted, and she nodded, replying, "I'd really like that."

"Good, I know just the place."

They continued with their late morning stroll, ignoring the interested sets of many eyes that followed them as they perused some of the store fronts, pointing to a few things of interest until they reached the 6th arrondissement, and a bright red door, with a picture of a bird hanging from the sign on the stone masonry, and she frowned slightly.

"I've never been here before." She offered quietly, and Draco glanced down at her surprised.

"Really?"

"No," she subtly shook her head, "my Mother preferred to eat in Muggle France, Le Meurice was amongst her favorites."

"Oh?" He asked with interest, "Is it good?"

"It really is," she admitted with a smirk, "it's widely believed to be the best restaurant in all of Europe."

Draco's eyebrows lifted with interest, before he offered, "Then I suggest we go there soon."

Hermione was taken aback, and her expression gave away to her own surprise, which had Draco chuckling deeply, as he teased, "You seem stunned."

"I am." She blurted out, which only caused his humor to deepen.

"Well," he cleared his throat softly, before explaining, "I decided last night, after receiving your invitation today—thank you, by the way..." she nodded, and he continued on, "but it made me realize that it's not up to you to court me, Hermione—no matter your feelings on equality, which I know are quite strong. It's my privilege to court you, and despite our rocky start, I was raised to make sure that my chosen witch would be shown through my actions, my respect and devoir for her at all times. I've been utterly remiss in that, but that changes today."

She stared up at Draco, her own expression she knew, must've shown her utter and complete shock at his words, but she couldn't help how hard her heart was pounding inside her chest at his sweet words. She couldn't even find it in herself to chastise his somewhat patriarchal viewpoint, as she knew enough from her own upbringing, that this was part of the Pureblood courtship process.

Oddly though, she was very, very pleased by his offer.

She lifted her hand, and cupped his cheek briefly, trying to respect his boundaries for lack of public displays of affection, so she was equally taken aback, when he swiftly cupped her hand with his free one, and leant submissively into her gesture for a few seconds. Their eyes remained locked in newfound sudden awareness, and she could feel his own Magic racing in time with hers...

"I would like nothing more than to take you up on your most generous offer, kind Sir."

His grey eyes instantly warmed noticeably at her words, then he reluctantly dropped his hand away, his lips lifting into a pleased smirk, before he replied succinctly, "As my Lady wishes, I aim to deliver most willingly."

She had to wonder in that moment, just what she was in for with this new and improved Draco Malfoy.