The identity spells would be administered by Minister Officials; however, would not be activated until the agreed upon period, i.e. school holidays.

Hermione tried to concentrate on what she was doing; then she realised that she had read the same line four times now. 'It's no use.' Hermione thought to herself with a frown. She had been admonishing herself all morning now, to no effect. She simply couldn't get her mind off last night's kiss.

Hermione's head bopped up at the sound of her door creaking open without the customary knock. Her frown deepened to a veritable scowl but the blond head that poked through the doorway took no notice.

'Did you want a coffee or tea there, Minister?' Draco asked.

'Since when did you decide to become a lackey?' Hermione said archly. She was irritated at herself for being so annoyed by Draco's mere presence. So she took it out on him.

'I believe the correct term is Beverage Assistant,' he replied with a raised eyebrow, clearly picking up on Hermione's out-of-the-blue waspish tone. 'And I only asked because I'm sending Creevey to make mine up. But if you'd rather have him make two trips instead of one…'

'Fine. I'll have a cup of tea,' she snapped, 'No, make it a pot of tea.'

Draco simply nodded as he closed the door again. And it made Hermione want to scream with frustration. It had become customary, that whenever she was simply working in her office Draco would stand outside said office looking surly, and thus performing his bodyguarding duties. This system usually meant Hermione was able to get her work done without Draco hovering over her shoulder. But today, Hermione couldn't seem to get any work done because she was so aware of the fact that he stood just outside her office. Oh Merlin, what a crackpot: being flustered by his mere presence. She was beginning to feel like one of those insipid Regency novel characters. And it was all his ruddy fault.

Thoughts of last night's kiss had buzzed through Hermione's head since she had stumbled off Ron's couch this morning. She had been filled with confusion and a slight tinge of apprehension at the thought of facing Draco at the office. But from the moment she stepped out of her office fireplace, that apprehension had been quickly replaced by a feeling of petty anger. Draco had greeted her with his usual nod, asked her about her plans for the day, then sauntered out to his usual spot by the door.

The smarmy bastard didn't even have the decency to fake some awkwardness over last night's kiss, and here she was unable to get any work done because she simply couldn't get it out of her mind. Granted, it was only a kiss. It was very likely that Draco was so accustomed to being accosted by women that he wasn't even giving the kiss a second thought. She definitely didn't like to think of herself as one of those trollops throwing herself at him, but she had to admit it to herself, even if she would deny it to a host of Deatheaters. She had kissed him. Despite being engaged or at least still semi engaged, she had kissed him. Despite having a few drinks, she could not blame the alcohol because she had wanted to kiss him. And that ruddy well meant she (still?) had feelings for Draco Malfoy.

Hermione groaned as the realization hit her. She was about to try and pound some sense into herself by banging her head against her desk, when a hand waved before her eyes.

'Hello, Hermione. Anybody home?'

Hermione jumped in her seat with a little shriek. Harry placed a hand on her shoulder and looked down at her with worry. She hadn't noticed him standing there and wondered how long he'd been there for.

'Are you alright, Hermione? I didn't know where you'd gone for a second there.'

'I'm fine. I'm fine. You just caught me daydreaming, that's all.'

Harry propped his hip against her desk and leant towards her, 'Listen, Hermione, Ron told me about what happened with Greg, so if you want to talk about it…or arrange for him to be killed, I'm here for you.'

'Thanks a lot, Harry, but I'm fine. Seriously.'

The door opened, again without a knock, and Draco walked in carrying a teapot in his hands. 'I decided to try my hand at being Beverage Assistant after all.' He drawled as he placed the teapot on Hermione's desk.

'Great body guard you are!' Hermione snapped, making Harry jump beside her. 'Didn't you hear me scream before? I could have been decapitated before you sauntered in here with that tea.'

Draco raised a sardonic brow, 'You had an appointment with Potter. But if in future you wish for me to accost all your appointments, I'll be happy to oblige.' he said with a wicked smirk.

Hermione felt her cheeks flame at the word "accost" and ducked her head to avoid Harry's bewildered gaze. Darn it, she didn't want to amuse Draco with her infantile behaviour. And she certainly didn't want to have to explain her behaviour to Harry.

'Fine, whatever.' She mumbled, not looking up until she heard the door close behind Draco.

Harry's gaze was still bouncing from where Draco had just stood back to Hermione.

'Hermione, if Malfoy's done or said anything to upset you, you'd tell me, wouldn't you?' Harry asked with concern marring his features.

She sighed inwardly before straightening in her seat to look up at Harry with a raised eyebrow. 'Why, so you can beat the smug out of him? Listen Harry, I know that your heavily pregnant wife has gotten your protective side into gear, and I appreciate the concern, but believe me when I say I can handle Malfoy.' Now, if only she could convince herself. 'And speaking of the bearer of my future God-child how is Ginny holding up?'

Hermione couldn't help feeling simultaneously joyous for and jealous of Ginny as she watched Harry practically melt at the mention of his beloved wife. Every pregnant woman alive undoubtedly wished for a husband like Harry. One who obviously still loved them despite the fact they looked like (direct quote from Ginny) "a bloated whale who had swallowed a colony of elephants". While Harry chattered happily about his wife and unborn child, Hermione tried to push her own problems to the back of her mind and absorb her friend's happiness.

'Excuse me, Minister. I hate to interrupt but Creevey wanted to remind you of your Hogwarts appointment.'

Draco's sarcastic drawl broke through Harry's descriptions of his baby's attempt at Irish dancing within Ginny's womb. Harry stopped short and glanced down at his watch, before smiling ruefully, 'So much for briefing before the meeting. I guess we're just going to have to wing it. I'll go get my scrolls and then fetch Ron. We'll meet you back here before setting off.'

Harry had nearly made it to the door when he paused and turned with a smile. 'Looks like the Potter Gang's heading back to Hogwarts for mischief.'

Hermione noticed Draco roll his eyes behind Harry's back and quickly stopped herself from doing the same. 'Yeah right. It was more like Hermione Granger and the Chopped Livers.'

With a short, sharp laugh Harry left her office. Draco stepped into the office as the door clicked shut. Hermione put immense effort into gathering requisite scrolls in order to avoid looking up at Draco. She knew that her insane behaviour was probably transparent to someone like him and she didn't particularly want to face him about it.

'Ah, Hogwarts: home of my happiest memories. This should be fun, shouldn't it?'

Hermione couldn't help but look up at that, only to see him grinning at her with the same wicked expression he'd worn last night as he'd wished her good night. She suddenly felt herself wishing for her sullen, sarcastic bodyguard's return. She didn't know if she could trust herself around this grinning and jovial version of Draco. Hermione dropped her gaze from his and picked up her quill, pretending to sign some random pieces of parchment.

'As much as I'm sure you'd enjoy reliving your happiest memories by dunking student's heads into the toilet bowl, that kind of behaviour may reflect badly on the Ministry, so try and restrain yourself.' Hermione said, acting deliberately obtuse about Draco's reference to happy memories. She continued her pointless signing, as she felt him stride up until he was beside her. The quill in her hand snapped as he leant down and whispered in her ear.

'I don't know, Minister. With you there, I think I can recall a few other memories I'd be only too happy to relive.'

Hermione had never known that such a short carriage ride could feel so awkward. As the age-old horse-less carriages of Hogwarts made its way through the school gates, its four occupants fiddled around in restless silence. Ron, looking rather green, seemed very nervous about his meeting with Professor Dumbledore. The meeting wasn't anything out of the ordinary for him, but he hadn't yet fully recovered from last night's debauchery.

Harry was practically twitching in his seat, impatient to find a fireplace in order to get into contact with his wife. Ginny had an appointment with the midwife that afternoon, and Harry was eager to hear about his baby. Although she was sitting beside him, Hermione barely even noticed Harry's twitching. She was too busy pretending to ignore the fact that Draco was staring at her. She had felt his steady gaze on her from the moment they had left the office. He was clearly doing it to unnerve her and, curse him, it was working!

Hermione couldn't help feeling ridiculous at her petty angst over his disregard of the kiss. It now seemed clear that Draco had not forgotten the kiss but was simply waiting to get out of the office before bringing up the issue. However, with Ron and Harry travelling with them, Draco had not gotten Hermione alone as of yet. She wasn't sure if she was grateful to her friends for being there. She wasn't sure if she was ready to confront Draco with the implications of the kiss or her feelings yet. She wasn't sure if she was ready for him to reject her again.

Hermione sighed as the carriage came to a halt. It was time to get to work, to put these bewildering thoughts aside and pull on her Minister cape. Harry practically jumped out of the vehicle, and Ron followed at a more sedate pace, leaving half his scrolls behind. As Hermione finished gathering these up she looked up to see that Draco had also exited but was holding the carriage door for her. Since she carried her briefcase in one hand and Ron's scrolls in the other, Draco held her by the waist and swung her down to the gravelled path. Looking up at him, the mumble of thanks died on her lips and Hermione felt the same urge to kiss him that had swamped her the previous night. It was clichéd. It was stupid. But as she looked up at his stormy grey eyes she yearned to draw him closer and linger within his embrace. It was only Dumbledore's jovial greetings from the steps of the school that broke through her inane inklings.

As she turned from Draco, Hermione tried to shake off some of the tension and plastered a smile on her face. She passed Ron's scrolls to him as she made her way to Dumbledore and Ron took them with an embarrassed smile.

'Professor Dumbledore. It's lovely to see you again.' She said with her hand outstretched to her old headmaster.

'Albus, please.' Dumbledore smiled.

Hermione gave a little shrug. 'Force of habit.' She laughed, 'And I don't foresee my breaking that habit any time soon. You'll always have something new to teach me. As such, you'll always be my professor.'

Dumbledore chuckled as he led the entourage through the hallways to his office.

'I understand you wished to speak to me about two separate issues.' He enquired as they walked.

'Well, actually, Harry and I will be addressing one of the issues while Ron undertakes the other.'

Hermione knew Ron wouldn't need her presence at his meeting, since having an "audience" would probably make him all the more nervous.

'If we're to have two separate meetings, then whom shall I see first?'

Hermione glanced over at Ron who was gripping his scrolls rather tightly, and decided to put him out of his misery. Dumbledore followed her gaze and smiled at Ron.

'Ron, if you'd be so kind as to follow me up to my office we can get started.' Dumbledore then turned his smile towards Harry, Hermione and Draco. 'Feel free to take a turn around the school while you're waiting. I'm sure Hagrid would love a visit.'

Harry cleared his throat to get Dumbledore's attention before he turned away again. 'Excuse me, professor. You wouldn't happen to have a spare fireplace I could use to contact my wife, would you?'

'Oh certainly, the staff room should be unoccupied at this hour. How is Ginny doing?'

Harry immediately brightened, 'Oh great! She's seeing the midwife today and we should be getting our first picture of our baby. Thanks a lot, professor.' With that he turned and bounded away towards the staff room. Dumbledore chuckled at Harry's eagerness before joining Ron in his office, leaving Draco and Hermione standing in the hallway alone together.

'So are you up for a turn around the school, Minister?' Draco laughed beside her.

Hermione started off towards the familiar corridors before replying. 'I think I might just visit Hagrid.' She said warily.

Although she knew she could never outrun Draco, she wanted to put as much distance between them as possible. She didn't want any sudden yearnings to overcome her. By the time she had pushed the door open and was walking down the lawn towards Hagrid's hut, Draco was already striding beside her. They continued to stride (with Hermione exaggerating her stride so as not to hinder the pace) in silence for a while. Hermione caught a glimpse of Hagrid's vegetable patch and realized her sanctuary was in sight. It took a lot of self-restraint for her not to bolt towards it. And this self-restraint was sorely tested when she felt Draco grab her by the hand. Hermione froze at his touch.

'So are we going to talk about this or not?'

Hermione couldn't understand how Draco could sound so rational and calm when her heart was pounding in her temples.

'Talk? What are you talking about? What's there to talk about?' Hermione mumbled inanely, 'I don't know what you're talking about.'

'Oh come on, Hermione you've been uptight all day. I know you need to talk about it as much as I do.' He didn't even give her a chance before continuing, 'About fact that you kissed me last night; About the fact that you're engaged to another man but wearing my ring.'

Hermione drew her hands into the folds of her cloak and blushed.

'Let's just find somewhere private where we can discuss this like rational adults.'

'Rational adults? Well that would exclude you from the discussion wouldn't it, Draco?'

He merely chuckled, slipped his hand into hers and gave her a slight tug. Hermione was so distracted by the warmth of his hand holding hers that she failed to notice that they were headed for the Forbidden Forest until they were within its shadows. She stopped to look up and around at the trees that surrounded them, and felt the bittersweet memories rush back at her. The Forbidden Forest was where it had all begun for Draco and Hermione. And while not all of the memories it held were happy ones, they were all she had been left with when Draco had disappeared so long ago.

Hermione's gaze finally fell on Draco, the sight of him blurred by her tears. He stepped towards and swept his hand across her cheek wiping away her tears with a gentleness that was imprinted within her memory.

'Don't cry, Hermione. I know,' Draco whispered, 'I know what this place means to you, to us.'

Draco cupped her cheeks in his hands, tilting her face towards him. As he stared down at her, Hermione recognized the yearning she saw within his gaze. And it made her want to cry all over again, but for an entirely different reason.

'You know what? Maybe we don't need to talk after all.' Draco muttered as he leant down and kissed her, drawing her tightly against him.

Hermione's arms snaked around his waist and she clung on to him like a limpet as she reacquainted herself with Draco's mouth. His lips slanted over hers and she yielded beneath him. His hands wandered from her face to entwine within her hair at the back of her head. Though Hermione was suffering from some lack of oxygen, even if the riders of the Apocalypse had been prancing behind her she would not have pulled away willingly.

This didn't seem to be the case for Draco as he abruptly lifted his head and turned to look around.

'What was that?'

Hermione was still trying to remember how to draw breath, and was vastly grateful that Draco had not released her. She was relatively certain that if he had, she would currently be a rather messy puddle on the forest floor. Draco took hold of her hand once more and turned again. It was then that Hermione realized the reason for his sudden distractedness. There was a rustling in the bushes just ahead of them. Draco's inner bodyguarding instincts must have kicked in while they'd been kissing and he had leapt straight into action.

Though they weren't far into the Forbidden Forest, Hermione knew of many dangerous creatures that lurked within its shadows. She followed Draco's lead and withdrew her wand from her robe, holding it at ready as they approached the rustling bush. With one quick movement, Draco swept the offending plant aside ready to fight the bloodthirsty animal that surely hid behind it, only to be confronted by high-pitched squeals of the human female variety. Hermione was quick to restrain Draco's wand arm as she looked down at the two students that clung to each other on the forest floor.

The squealer was a curly-haired blonde with suspiciously rumpled robes and smudged lip-gloss. Her companion was a tall and gangly Asian boy. Both looked absolutely petrified as Draco scowled down at them, his wand still held high. 'Obviously we weren't the only ones interrupted,' Hermione chuckled inwardly before taking pity on the randy teenagers.

'Shouldn't you both be in class?' was all she had to say for the two students to scramble away. Hermione waited until they were out of sight before she began to laugh, really laugh, until she was on the forest floor clutching her stomach. Draco soon joined her with his low chuckles.

'I'm glad we were never caught out like that. I might never have wanted to kiss you again.' Hermione laughed before grabbing him by the front of his robes and pulling him towards her.

A/N: Hey, hey. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I hope that y'all don't think that this story is moving along to slowly (in terms of storyline and not my sluggishly paced updating) because I have plans for it…Thanks again for all of you who have supported me and this story with your reviews and constant checking for my updates (though hopefully you know by now not to check to often, to avoid disappointment). Oh I also have to mention that in terms of Hidden Agenda, book six never existed…(hehehe I'm still happily in denial). Yay to all you readers of my work….luv HobYTlaH ;0)