She signalled to a chair, and he sat down. She perched on the edge of the sofa, as far from him as possible, knowing that any closer, and she might do something she knew she' regret.
"Can I get a cup of coffee or something?" Draco asked, shrugging his shoulders.
She glared at him.
"Alright, alright. No coffee!" he said, raising his hands defensively.
He stood up and when to sit on the sofa, next to Hermione. He moved his hand oh-so-softly onto her knee. She looked down at his hand, then up at him.
"Draco, I've got a lot of…stuff going on right now. What do you want?"
"Mya…I mean…I don't know what to say…I've missed you. Nothing's the same without you. It's been exactly one year, since that last night. December 21st."
Hermione remembered that night…so well…
Everything had started three years before then. Having not seen Draco since he was acquitted from the trail of the Death Eaters, Hermione happened to bump into him at the Ministry. He was looking for a job, she was to be his main interviewer, and possibly, future boss. He was the only candidate, and over qualified. The board gave him the job unanimously.
When Ron and the others had found out, they were outraged on her behalf and sympathetic to her. But – and she felt almost guilty about this – she enjoyed having him work for her. He was fantastic at his job, always prompt with deadlines, and (like her) he often worked through the night at the Ministry, to get a report finished.
It was on one of these days, when both had been working in their neighbouring offices that it all began. He rapped firmly on her office door, an entered, wearing no tie, sleeves rolled up, carrying a bulging file.
"Hermione?"
"Oh, hi Draco," she yawned.
He laughed, "No time for sleep, we've got another long night ahead of us. I thought you'd be here. I was wondering if you could give me a hand on the Walker case."
"Yeah, sure," she said, walking over to sit on the chocolate brown leather sofa. The smoothness of the fabric made her skirt ride up, so that over half of her thigh was showing. Unaware of this, she offered Draco a seat beside her. He sat down, careful to leave a suitable gap between them.
"So, what's the problem?" she said, rubbing her hands together trying to wake herself up.
Forgetting himself, he leaned over to her, in order to let her get a better look at the file. In doing so their bare arms brushed together. The skin where they had momentarily touch began to tingle, for both of them. They looked at each other, embarrassed, and quickly withdrew. Realising he had to be nearer to her, for her to be able to see the file, he shuffled ever slightly closer.
As their conversations about work grew deeper and deeper, they move ever slightly closer to each other. Their thighs were now touching. Suddenly noticing this, Hermione looked up into his cool blue eyes and saw so much swimming beneath the surface.
He put his hands to the side of her face and pulled her towards him. He kissed her beautifully on the lips. She could honestly say that it was the most perfect kiss she had ever had. He removed his hands and pulled away. She stared blankly at him.
His heart sank. "God, I'm so sorry. I never should have…I don't know what came over me. I'll leave."
He stood up to leave, but Hermione grabbed his wrist. "Don't go."
He sat back down and gave her another one of those beautiful kisses. And another. And another. And another.
After that night, they would see each other as often an as secretly as possible. For two years, they would spend most work nights and weekends together, neither of them telling anyone. Draco because he had no one to tell, and Hermione because she could not bear to tell any of her friends that she had started dating and sleeping with the person they all hated most. For two years, they carried on like that, until Ginny happened to see them together in a café. She stood at the entrance of the café and watched as they chatted and laughed. She saw how Hermione kissed him goodbye when she left. She saw the way Draco longingly watched her leave. She saw the expression on Hermione's face when she saw her standing there.
"Ginny, I…"
"Don't Hermione," she said, holding up a pointed finger for silence. "You have to end whatever you've got going on with him. I'm serious. He may have been cleared of being a Death Eater, but you know the kind of things he's done. He's bad news Hermione. And it would kill Harry and Ron if they knew. They hate the fact that he works with you. I don't know what they'd do if they knew you were together."
And that was it. Ginny left, Hermione went back into the café and told him it was over. He had one request.
"One night, Mya. Please. Just one more night."
As usual, she couldn't resist. No words passed between them that night. it was what they both wanted. After that night, (December 21st) she didn't see him again for three years.