Disclaimer: Huh? You mean I don't own this stuff? I only own the stupid plot and the cat? Oh well.

Warnings: AU, language but not much, not much else…

ACT 1: Chapter 4

Warm, bright light shinned in to Draco's room. The light had woken him and he opened his eyes slowly.

He took a deep breath as he stretched and smelled the exotic spices the woman beside him wore. He turned to look at the beautiful creature that was peacefully dreaming and smiled. He only thought of one thing as he watched her breathing softly.

"How did I convince her to marry me?"

He had met her at a dinner party at the start of summer and was instantly smitten with her. She didn't act like there was anyone to impress, yet there was a classiness about her that charmed him. In the span of a couple weeks and through hours of debate and near strangulation, she had managed to make him understand the importance of thinking for yourself and respecting others. She had accomplished turning him into a human being with a shred of humility. A feat that not even his mother could achieve.

He knew that asking her to marry was a hasty decision, but he didn't care. And while her parents were thrilled that their daughter had found someone like Draco, someone with money, his parents were not so enthusiastic. Sure her family was pureblood and wealthy, but they didn't hold to his family's ideas of blood. However, in time, they had received the blessings of both families and were married in a small church, for privacy, at the end of July.

Their relationship hadn't been the best; most likely because they moved so quickly into marriage. There was cheating on both their parts and a few pregnancy scares during the school year that nearly tore them apart. But through it all, they had come out better for it. All of it had strengthened their resolve to make something last. In their hearts, they were committed to each other.

The times he got to share with her were few as she went to Beauxbatons and lived at the school, but when they did see each other, it was like they had never been apart. When he found out that she was an unregistered animagus, he decided to sneak her into the school as a cat whenever they had time. He had been doing this ever since the beginning of the year. When he got a note from Dumbledore, he thought that he would have been expelled. Instead, the old headmaster understood their situation and took a small amount of pity on them by allowing her to stay if she got herself registered. Draco had never wanted to hug the old goat more than he had at that moment.

She stirred and snuggled up close to him.

He kissed her forehead as he said,

"Good morning,"

She smiled but kept her eyes closed.

"Hmmm…morning."

"I could get use to waking up next to a beautiful woman every morning," he said with all the charm of a smarmy git.

She chuckled and buried her face in his chest. She loved his sarcastic, sometimes biting, tongue and sense of humor.

"Waking up next to you isn't exactly a punishment either," she replied with her accent coming sexily out of her mouth.

He smiled and turned his head to look at the clock on his nightstand.

"It's just after ten Kat, what would you like to do today?"

"Hmm…I would like to just lie here with you all day."

"Oh no, we need to get out," he said, even though her idea was very tempting.

She opened her black eyes and looked out the window. The outdoors did look appealing.

"Hogsmeade," she said, "but I need to shower first."

"May I join you?" he said with a wicked smile elegantly in place.

"No," she replied as she got up and grabbed a robe, "I know what you are like in the shower," she smirked at him. Something she had picked up from him.

She leaned over to him and gave him a proper kiss good morning.

Draco got out of bed and threw on some clothes and turned around to see his wife had changed into the elegant cat. He walked over to the door and opened it to let her out and she trotted her way to the bathroom. Draco needed a shower too, but decided to wait.

Stretching fully, he yawned before he walked outside. He saw the little scene Hermione had made a couple hours before and was surprised that he actually thought it quite nice. He noticed the path towards to the tree and walked up it.

He smelled the scent of the roses and freshly cut grass. He had taken a liking to earthy smells and admired the area. He came to the stone gate and pushed the door open.

There was Hermione lying on a bench with her eyes closed and a book resting on her chest. A few white honeysuckle flowers were on her stomach.

Despite himself, Draco smiled at how peaceful and even how pretty she looked in this very girly garden. Though she was nothing compared to his wife, she had grown into a pretty young woman and he could see why Weasley would go for her.

His thoughts were interrupted by the memories of their last encounter and a sharp prick of guilt jabbed his side like a thorn.

He was so mad at the time that had he taken it out on someone who didn't deserve it. He had even left her to do all the rounds alone. He wondered if she was mad at him.

He walked over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder and gently shook her awake.

"Granger, wake up."

There was a warm hand on her shoulder. At first she thought it was Ron's, but it felt different. The next she knew there was a small shake and a low voice calling her name.

Hermione opened her eyes and looked around a bit dazed before she became fully aware of her surroundings. She looked up at the person who had awakened her and saw the tall, pale figure of Draco standing over her.

"I must have dozed off," she said with a yawn and blinking her eyes several times. When memories of the previous weeks and few nights of solo patrolling came back to her, she knitted her brows.

"Malfoy where have you been!" she shouted while sitting up quickly.

"Calm down Granger, don't act though you didn't enjoy the extra work."

He had found a chair opposite her bench and sat down on the edge, leaning forward, arms on knees.

"That's not the point you arrogant ass! You neglected your job! And you pushed me to the ground!" she said almost shouting.

He glanced down in an unfamiliar way. She looked at him, curiosity shooting out of her eyes. He looked…not embarrassed, but he looked as though there was something that he wanted to say, and the thought of it was too hard to even form in his head.

Looking back up into her eyes, he put on his best "I'm sorry" face. The odd thing was that he really was sorry.

"Look, I only came to apologize for going and for how I treated you the other night. I am sorry I pushed you down and got in your face."

He said it as though it was the most disgusting thing he had to do, but it stunned her nonetheless.

"Malfoy, I don't know what's been going on with you lately, but I am pretty sure you have been sneaking students, without permission, into you room. That is against the rules and you know it. If you flake out on me again, I will report you," she said in a stern manner that would've made McGonagall proud.

Draco didn't care that she was threatening him with this information. Dumbledore knew already. The only problem was that Dumbledore didn't know he was sneaking out to go visit Katrina and he didn't want Hermione to know who he was sneaking in, and so he went along with her, nodding his head in agreement.

"Apology accepted Malfoy," she said pleased that he was cooperating.

There was a moment of calm silence as they sat back and drank in the sun's glittering rays with small contented smiles and closed eyes.

"Is the weather really like this today?" he finally asked.

"Sadly no. The sun's out, but it's much colder," she replied wistfully, "I am not ready for fall to end just yet."

"Hmm…you did a nice job with the garden."

She opened her eyes and looked at him bemusedly.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing, I just…Malfoy you gave me a complement and you didn't shrivel up or die! I must say I am impressed. You really must have killed off your evil twin."

He laughed a bit.

There was a meow coming from the gate. They both looked and saw Crookshanks and Draco's cat walking together like old friends.

"Crookshanks," Hermione called and he separated from the other cat and headed towards the tree, ignoring Hermione.

"You know Malfoy, I think Crookshanks is in love with your cat," she added with a sly smile that seemed to imply that there might be kittens in the near distant future. Though she didn't see it, he looked at her with fire at the idea, but he said nothing.

Draco's cat sauntered up to Hermione and jumped on to her lap. Hermione began stroking its gloriously soft pelt.

"Malfoy, what is your cat's name?"

"Kat,"

"How completely unoriginal of you. I thought you would have come up with something better."

"It's short for Katrina. Family name," it wasn't a lie. It was her name and it was her father's family name.

Again, Hermione quirked an eyebrow at him, but he didn't say anything.

The animal looked up at Hermione with a studying expression and a quick meow of uncertainty.

Draco laughed as the cat continued just looking at Hermione.

"She won't hurt you," he said with amusement sewn into his voice and the cat turned to face Draco before sitting on all fours on Hermione's lap.

"I didn't think she would hurt me," Hermione said.

He smirked, "I wasn't talking to you."

She looked at him with a strange expression, but shrugged it off as she began petting the large cat.

"Well, not that this little chat hasn't been fun, but I have things to do," he said as he got up to leave and he tipped his head at her as he departed for a shower.

Hermione looked at her watch. Almost eleven.

Gently twisting her new animal friend's ear, Hermione said, "he certainly is a strange one isn't he? I can't imagine having to live with him and that family of his."

Kat turned around to face the girl who was gently playing with her ear.

Hermione saw that the cat had an odd expression on her face. It wasn't an angry expression but it seemed to say that she didn't know what his life was like and to not say that about him.

Hermione, being used to Crookshanks quarks, understood.

"Don't look at me like that. You don't know how he's treated my friends and I all these years. Now all of a sudden, he's acting like a human being."

The cat gave Hermione a single rub on her hand and jumped out of her lamp, following Draco back into the common room.

"Curiouser and curiouser," she quoted as she shook her head and getting up.

She was going to invite Ron and Harry for lunch in her garden.

Walking through the common room, she noticed that there was a closet sized room that had a swinging bar across the middle. Curious, she walked over to it and pushed the bar forward to get in.

It was a lift! Malfoy had thought up a lift!

"If I didn't hate him, I'd kiss him," she said to herself. Walking up and down those stairs had been murder.

She saw buttons that went to every floor in the castle. Pressing the level that the Gryffindor common room was on, a voice, that sounded a lot like Malfoy, said,

"Unless you want to lose a body part, you had better stand back in the next 5…4…

Hermione stood back against the wall.

"3…2…1…"

SNAP!

A piece of glass slid across the frame and covered the opening so that riders wouldn't fall out. The lift gave a slight jerk and she began the decent.

On the way she passed other students walking and heading to lunch. It was a pleasant ride she had to admit.

Finally, with a ding of the lift and a foul comment of, "you can get the hell out now," the glass slid open and she walked out, heading down the corridor to her house common room.

A/N: Exposition, exposition, exposition! So much explaining!

I hope you like it so far. I don't know if I have sufficiently stated why Draco is not as foul as he once was. That was really the core of this part of the story, to explain why Draco was different. If it doesn't work for you, or it's moving to fast into him becoming tolerable, then let meknow, or you can even give me a few ideas. Does it seem believable? I could use a bit more criticism.