Draco walked back to his apartment (he moved out of the manor ages ago) and collapsed on the couch. He was stone drunk at the moment, and was not thinking clearly. All he remembered was that there was a brown eyed chick with a killer body that seemed pissed at him. What was her name again? He knew this…but he passed out seconds later and forgot all about his encounter with Hermione due to his major hangover the next morning.

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Draco exited his apartment early evening the next day. He had gotten a job at Zabini Inc., a company having something to do with the business of Muggles. He owed his new job to a very good friend of his, Mr.Zabini himself. He had gotten a job, and now he was going out to celebrate. And without knowing how, he discovered he was standing right in front of The Three Broomsticks. He stood there for a while; bewildered. It was like there was some invisible magnet drawing him here every single time.

He shrugged and went inside. He made his way straight for the bar, and seated himself. The barmaid was busy and Oh Merlin, it was Granger! How could he have forgotten? He shook his head and watched, amused as she fought off the old men trying to hit on her. She succeeded and made her way to his side of the bar, but stopped short when she saw his face. "You again? Please don't tell me you want to get drunk!" Draco smirked. "Actually, Granger, I've come here to celebrate." "Celebrate?" "Yeah. That day when I came here, I was fired from my job, and now I've gotten a new one." "Oh. Well, what do you want to drink, sir?" She smirked mockingly at him, which caused his stomach to do weird flips. What was wrong with him? He cursed angrily.

"Um…Malfoy? I hope you didn't come here to talk, because I don't really like talking to you. What do you want to fucking drink!" "Beer." "Again?" "Yes, again, Barmaid Granger!" Draco rolled his eyes irritably. Hermione looked like she was about to respond but she seemed to think better of it and gave him a pitcher of beer. She leaned against the bar countertop, and her wallet fell out of her breast pocket and landed, open, on the counter almost right in front of Draco. Draco was about to slide it over to her, but he caught sight of a dog-eared picture of a baby girl in a crib, smiling happily. Hermione snatched the wallet before he could look at the picture further. "Granger, that was a cute baby, but why the hell do you have it in your wallet?"

Hermione looked at him like he was stupid, and it clicked. "You have a kid!" Hermione rolled her eyes. "Yes, Malfoy, I have a kid." "So you're married?" Draco felt disappointed for some reason. Of course if she had a kid then she had a- "No." Draco looked at her disbelievingly. "So you're a single mom!" She sighed. "Yes, Malfoy, I'm a single mother. Now piss off."

But Malfoy couldn't stop. He felt intrigued by this baby, like there was something special about her… "What's the baby's name, Granger?" "Hailey." "How old is she?" "2 months old." "Who's the father?" He knew he would dislike whoever it was. "Goddammit, Malfoy, stop asking questions, and drink already!" "Fine, if you answer that last question." "Malfoy, I do not want to open up to you, of all people." "Come on, who's the father?" "As I said, Malfoy, it isn't any of your fucking business." "Come on!" Hermione slammed her fist on the counter causing a couple of heads to turn and Draco to jump in surprise. "It isn't any of YOUR BUSINESS! Now SHUT UP!" Malfoy did. He would just have to find out by himself. Or maybe he could force it out of her…Whoever the father was must have been a real asshole. He finished his beer, paid, and left.

Well that had been an interesting celebration.

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Hermione lay in bed, thinking. It had been the second time Malfoy had come to the bar, and the second time he had pissed her off and puzzled her. Why the hell was he so interested in Hailey? As far as she knew, Malfoy had never had a soft spot for anything. And why the hell was he so interested in her life? It kind of pissed her off, especially when he asked about Hailey's father. It was none of his business, and it wasn't as if it were important.

Then why didn't she want to tell him?

Hermione sighed and tossed and turned, until finally, sleep overcame her.

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Hermione was working. There seemed to be an unusual number of people at the bar today. "Hey, ma'am!" Hermione turned. "You have a nice ass, I'd sure like to-" Hermione ignored the comment. "Five sickles, sir." The man licked his lips and Hermione repeated the price of his beer. The guy said nothing but "Only if I get a kiss." Hermione sighed. Because the people surrounding the bar were drinking beer and really, really drunk, they all echoed what the man said. "A kiss! A kiss! Kiss kiss kiss kiss!" Hermione rolled her eyes. "Sir, if you don't pay, I'm afraid I'm going to need to force it out of you." The guy chuckled. "Ah, tough chick, eh? I haven't had one of those in ages…" Hermione was getting impatient. "Sir-" "I swear, I want to slap your-" He was interrupted when he received a hard slap in the face.

Hermione glared at him, her temper rising. "Sir, if you do not hand over the five sickles right now, I swear I'll slap you harder, and judging by your wince, you are not very tolerant to pain." The guy looked at her in disbelief, handed over a galleon, and left, leaving all the people around the bar to stare at her in drunk awe. Hermione sighed tiredly and rubbed her temples, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar blonde head taking a seat. She groaned.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" When she looked at him, she was surprised to see him smirking. Had she done anything funny? Was there something on her face? "Granger, I must commend you. That was quite a show you put on, and you shocked the bugger so badly he almost shit himself." Hermione looked at him blankly for a while, and then remembered. "Malfoy, I've done that a million times. You want to drink beer, I suppose?" Malfoy smirked. "I didn't know you actually memorize my order, Granger! You're obsessed!" She cocked and eyebrow at him, and gave him his drink. "In your dreams, Malfoy." She left him to drink for a while, tending to the other delightful customers.

He took this opportunity to think and observe her. She had definitely matured since their days at Hogwarts, her once bushy, out of control hair had actually tamed, and fell in graceful locks until just past her shoulders, and those curves…wait a second, was he actually thinking about Granger this way? He shook his head, trying to clear away the disturbing thoughts. He was not attracted to Granger. She wasn't pretty at all, she wasn't anything special…and then he remembered her baby. Hailey, was it? Malfoy honestly didn't know why he kept thinking about Hailey, but to him, she was the most adorable, beautiful, delightful baby he had ever seen, and he had only caught a glimpse of her in the picture. Hailey looked so happy and content in the picture, and he had observed the picture as hard as he could until Hermione had snatched it away from him. He was just, so drawn to Hailey. He wanted to see her, but he also wanted to help Hermione, who was looking rather unhappy since the day he met her here. A question came to mind. Why was she a barmaid instead of an Auror, or a Mediwitch, or the president of anything? Why was she stuck serving stupid, fat guys beer? Then he realized. The father of Hailey must have been an unsupportive bastard. He must have left Hermione with nothing, probably not even child support or money.

"Oy, Granger! Can I have another beer?" Hermione walked towards him, narrowing her eyes at him. She poured him another beer and sat down, sighing. "What's wrong?" Malfoy asked without thinking, causing her to give him a strange look. "Work's just tiring, that's all." She then busied herself with wiping glasses. "Umm….Granger?" She looked up, meeting his gaze. "Why are you a barmaid?" She looked at him for a while, and then sighed again, her voice quivering as she spoke, as if she was trying not to cry. "It isn't any of your business, Malfoy." "Come now, Granger! I swear, I won't laugh or tease you in any way." "It isn't that, dammit. It's just too private to share with you." "Come on, please?"

Hermione cocked her head at him. "Why are you so interested in my life, Malfoy?" "Because….I don't know…" She looked at him and then an assumption dawned over her, and she looked at him in horror. "What do you do and what are you planning to do to my daughter?" Malfoy looked at her, dumbstruck, and then burst out laughing. "Granger, I work for Zabini Inc., and I plan to do nothing to your daughter whatsoever. I'm just curious about her…about you, I guess." Hermione indignantly crossed her arms over her chest; she did not appreciate being laughed at. "Good. What did you want to know again?" "Why you're a barmaid instead of a bigshot." "Well, basically, I got fired from my job as an Auror for making a tiny mistake, and then my ex husband divorced me and didn't even leave me child support, and then I was jobless for a month or two, hardly being able to pay the bills, and then the only available job I found was a barmaid at The Three Broomsticks. Satisfied?" She left out the part where she was part of the housekeeping staff.

Draco looked at her, speechless, until he realized how stupid he must look. "Okay…what about Hailey?" "What about Hailey?" "Tell me about her." "Why?" "For Merlin's sake, Granger-" "Fine! She's two months old, she's really playful, and she's the only thing that keeps me going. Do you know enough about my life yet?" "No. Tell me more about her." "I don't know what else there is to say….hey, wait a minute, you had me talking about my life this whole time, when I don't have a clue about yours!" Hermione turned away mockingly. Draco smirked. "Fine. I work at Zabini Inc., am single, I'm not a Death Eater by the way, in case you suspected, and I like girls with huge-" "Shut up." He laughed, and Hermione turned around. She had never heard him laugh before, and she liked it. It was a deep, masculine sound, and she found out she was turned on.

She stopped that train of thought abruptly. "Uhhh…Malfoy, you want another beer?" "Sure." She gave him another beer, and looked around the bar. They were the only ones there, except for the manager, but his door was closed, and it made her uneasy. Was she just flirting with Malfoy? She shuddered. She looked at her watch and was surprised to find that it was 11:00 pm. She was supposed to close now. "Umm, Malfoy? I'm sorry, but you need to leave, it's closing time-" "Oh, look at the time! You're right! Okay, uhhhh….well I'll see you around, and here's a galleon, that's within two hours!" She smiled, and he smirked back, and her insides melted. What the hell was happening to her? He left, and she sighed, and sank down in her chair. What was that?

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Draco stepped out of The Three Broomsticks hurriedly. He had felt something with Granger tonight. It was just too weird. She was Granger! He wasn't supposed to be attracted to Granger! It was absurd! He Apparated to his apartment, and took a shower.

He needed to talk about these feelings with someone.

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Author's notes: Yeah, I hope you liked this chapter! I like pie….