A/N: Enjoy!


Tossing back a shot of firewhiskey, Hermione threw her arms up in the air and joined Ginny and Hannah on the makeshift dance floor as their song came on. She had promised herself she wasn't going to drink that night but the moment she had heard Hungry Like the Wolf by Duran Duran, it was a fight she knew she was going to lose.

It was like the night of the Yule Ball all over again.

Only instead of pouting in a corner, Ron had guided his beautiful wife to the thick of the fun and spun her into his arms as they smiled and laughed and danced the night away. Glad to see that the pair of them had made up, Hermione shifted her attention to Malfoy as he and a few professional Quidditch players chatted and laughed together by the drinks table.

For a brief moment their eyes met, the smallest trace of a smile on his lips as he shot her a quick wink from across the room.

She couldn't help but chuckle, redirecting her attention to the girls as they carried on dancing and shouting the words to the song at the top of their lungs.

Later That Night

"In you go," Hermione voiced, tucking a very drunk and half-conscious Ginny into bed.

Over on the other side of the master bedroom, Harry had stumbled inside and flopped down onto the bed beside his wife, both of them still fully clothed. By the time Hermione had tiptoed out of the bedroom and into the corridor, the couple had started snoring in rhythm with each other.

Their own little song that they had created in their sleep.

Holding in her laughter, she made her way downstairs to find empty bottles and half-eaten plates of food scattered across every surface, and in the midst of it all just one person had stayed behind to help clean up the mess.

Unaware of her presence, Malfoy had made quick work of the tidying up, a bin liner in one hand and his wand in the other as he cleared the bottles and food and shifted the furniture back into the positions they had started in.

For a moment Hermione had just stood at the doorway and watched, fully aware of the manner in which her heart had started racing as Malfoy had glanced over.

"You didn't have to do all of this," she said to him, an apologetic look in her eyes as she gestured to the spotless lounge.

He shrugged, tying up the bin liner and tossing it with the other ones in the corner. "I figured you had your hands full helping the birthday girl to bed."

Slowly coming in, she stopped within inches of him before giving him another kiss on the cheek. "Thank you," she uttered to him in the quiet after, softly even though they were alone. "Not just for staying behind but for coming here tonight."

"I had almost decided against it," he admitted, looking to her in the dimness of the lounge. "I … didn't think you wanted to see me again."

The sound of that had broke her heart a little, only because she understood what it was like to not know and to be too anxious to find out. "I'm sorry I pushed you away," she furthered, whispering it as she blinked up at him. "Is there some way I can make it up to you?"

He held the silence a moment, tucking a few curls behind her ears before he said it. "Let me take you home," he suggested. "On my broom."

Five Minutes Later

Hermione held on for dear life, the ends of her hair rippling in the wind as she and Malfoy soared into the nightsky on his broomstick. Although she had grown out of her fear of flying a little, the speed at which he steered them through the clouds of London, had left her heart racing in a much different way than it had at the house.

Only as he placed his hand on her knee, rubbing it as though to calm her nerves, did she begin to relax.

Slowly she leaned into him, resting her head on his back and holding tightly as he flew her home in less than half the time it would have taken her had she hopped on the train.

The moment they had started their descent, flying toward the rooftop of her building, did she feel his lips on her hand as he brought it up for a quick, reassuring kiss. Her breathing quickened, the warmth of his touch filling her insides.

"You can open your eyes now," he indicated, seconds after they had made a safe landing.

She did just that, pressing her feet to the concrete as a burst of relief lapped her chest. Letting go, she gave him a look of thanks as he helped her down. "That was … still as terrifying as ever."

Chuckling, he propped his broomstick on his shoulder. "You were shaking there for a moment."

"I didn't cry this time, so I suppose that's progress."

"Really? I could have sworn I had felt a whimper or two," he joked, earning a playful glare. "For the record I used to be just as afraid of flying … when I was nine."

"We'll take my car next time," she decided, only half-joking.

His eyebrows bounced up a moment. "Next time?"

"Oh, do you not know? You're taking me out to dinner tomorrow."

Smiling, he pressed his lips to her forehead. "Best news I've heard all night."

"I suppose I shouldn't spoil it by inviting you to my flat, then, should I?"

There was a flicker of surprise in his eyes before she took him by the hand and guided him inside the building. Slowly they made their way down the steps and to her front door. She rummaged in her handbag for the key, her heart quickening as he turned her around and pulled her in for a very warm and long overdue kiss, as though he couldn't hold it in any longer.

Breathing into it, she hurriedly felt for the key and shoved it in the lock before opening the door, the pair of them stumbling inside without once pulling away.

They kicked the shoes off and shrugged their coats to the floor, leaving a trail of clothing on their way to the bedroom. Only as he lifted her up and set her down on the foot of the bed, did she feel him drag the zip of her dress all the way down. The fabric loosened around her body, revealing a bit more than he had anticipated as he glanced down at her bare breasts.

Although the look in his eyes had told her that he wanted to immediately give her nipples a lick, he slowed down and instead began kissing down her body in soft, steady motions.

By the time he had slid her knickers down her legs and kissed every inch of her breasts, she had woven her fingers through his hair and arched her back as he went down on her.

To think the same tongue that had once uttered so many awful things was now flush against her clit, making her heart pound wildly in her chest as she parted her lips in pleasure, was the kind of poetry she could get behind.

Slowing only as she fell apart, he came up for air and kissed her again, the taste of her still on his lips as she tugged at his belt.

"Now?" he asked, unable to utter more than just the one word.

She pulled him onto the bed as he kicked his trousers off, climbing on top of him and grazing her lips against his ear as she leaned in. "Now."

Within seconds he reached between their bodies, looking her deeply in the eyes as he pushed his cock into the wet heat that he had thought about everyday since the wedding. She inhaled sharply at the sensation, slowly meeting each of his thrusts as they traversed a different kind of intimacy.

It wasn't just sex anymore, the thought of which echoed between movement.

One Month Later

"Teddy?" Draco blurted out loud, surprised to find his former patient wandering the cobblestone streets of Diagon Alley only to remember it was the holidays.

Spinning around at the sound of his name, Teddy's eyebrows bounced up. "Healer Malfoy!"

With a quick hug, Draco had only then noticed the young witch at Teddy's side. Going by her red hair and striking appearance, he assumed she could only have been Bill and Fleur's daughter.

"This is Victoire," Teddy introduced, hand-in-hand with her. "The one I'd told you about."

Draco laughed at the memory, nodding hello to her as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "I take it you two are enjoying the holidays?"

"Definitely! We're going to meet with our friends at the joke shop in just a moment," Teddy went on to explain. "Did you know they've got a Quidditch simulator in there now?"

"I didn't but that sounds like fun."

"It is! Victoire is way better than me at it, too!"

The young Weasley smiled at her boyfriend. "You nearly won last time."

"Only because you let me," he countered, giving her hand a soft kiss as though he had forgot for a moment that they weren't alone.

Draco rubbed the back of his neck, trying to determine the best way in which he could leave the young couple to their devices before he had spotted a familiar face in the distance. Seemingly on her lunch break, Granger stepped out onto the snow-covered, cobblestone path, locking eyes with him as a small smile tugged at her lips.

Slowly she came over, lifting the ends of her Auror robes as she met with him in front of the joke shop.

Unable to help it, he greeted her with a kiss on the forehead. "How was your morning?"

"Tiring," she admitted. "I've been counting down the seconds until our date tonight since I woke up."

"Well, now that I've got a long overdue day off, what do you say we meet a little sooner tonight? Take a walk through the Christmas market in Hogsmeade?"

"I would love that."

Teddy stared between them in shock, his mouth falling open. "Y-you two are together?"

As though she had only then realized he was there, Granger glanced to the young wizard and his girlfriend, pressing her lips together to keep from laughing as she nodded in hello to the couple. "I could say the same to you two."

Victoire smiled brightly. "I think you two look really good together. Like the main couple in that film where the woman wanders into the man's bookshop and they slowly fall in love despite her being an actor and him being a regular person."

"Notting Hill!" Granger blurted, as though she had been waiting for someone to mention the film for ages. "I love that one!"

Draco gave in to the fact that they were probably going to watch the film after dinner, nodding in farewell to the young couple as they went off to meet their friends in the moments after.

"I haven't got much time before I have to head back," Granger cut in. "What do you say we have a quick bite at The Leaky Cauldron and then you fly me back to work on your broom?"

"Really? I thought you hated flying."

"Oh, I do," she nodded, sparing a moment to blink up at him before she had said the rest. "I just like being close to you."

He smiled, brushing the snow from her hair before he wove his fingers through it and kissed her, as though for the first time all over again.

The End.


A/N: Thoughts?