Can I just mention that I love hearing from you guys? When I get that little notification that someone has commented, I'm like "what did they say? what do they think?" So thank you for doing that. I really DO want to hear from all of you, so if you're feeling generous, tell me what you're thinking about what I'm putting out :)

ALSO I see the end in sight. If I had to guess, maybe two or three more chapters? I'll be sad to let it go but let's be honest, I started this three years ago, I'm almost out of college, and it's TIME for me to wrap this up...and start a new project?

Love,

Cherry


On July fifteenth, a press release from Malfoy Investments was run in every major newspaper in all of Great Britain. It announced the expansion of the company to include a research division, which would mean Malfoy Investments would begin in-house production for projects they normally funded by way of investment with external collaborators.

The news came with the inclusion of the newly appointed Director of Research and Development, Gustavo Bianchi (famous for his high-end charmed household products). Two of Bianchi's prior employees, Lelio Dinapoli and Alessandra Marconi would focus their efforts on continuing to design and develop charmed products, while the final addition to the team, Hermione Granger, would focus on potions products.

The news was exciting for many, as the name Malfoy had become tainted with dark undertones since the war, so to see partnership between an elite pureblood family and one of the main parties who ensured Voldemort's demise meant the Malfoy name was being redefined for a new era.

Hermione grimaced at the newspaper she held, unappreciative that the photos they had chosen to print of Draco and her new colleagues were professional headshots, while the photo of Hermione that had been chosen was from the night of the annual gala celebrating Voldemort's defeat. Nothing said "I'm a professional woman who knows potions" quite like a smokey eye and formal robes.

Still, the article excited Hermione. It was going to be a big adjustment, switching from working at St. Mungo's to heading her own projects, but she was ready. St. Mungo's wasn't quite as ready, but did agree that if she finished out the month of July as a healer, they would have her replacement ready by August first, so Hermione agreed, figuring it was the least she could do with such short notice.

Ginny's excitement was something that surprised Hermione; she hadn't expected it when she stopped by to explain what was happening in person, but when Hermione announced the transition, Ginny had squealed with excitement that Hermione was starting a new chapter in her life, and even Harry congratulated her, mentioning that she was too smart to be working somewhere boring like St. Mungo's. While Hermione hadn't expected it when she went to visit Harry and Ginny, Ginny immediately called Molly Weasley via the Floo, and practically forced Hermione to tell Molly the good news. Hermione loved Molly, and had felt that she tried to step up for Hermione when her parents died, but the two hadn't spoken since Hermione and Ron had broken up, so Hermione wasn't certain how Molly would take the news.

She took it wonderfully, of course, and said that if Hermione was happy, then she was happy. If Hermione read into Molly's statement at all (which she did), she would know that Molly was referring to more than just Hermione being happy in a new job. Hermione appreciated the support and found herself invited to Harry's birthday party at the Burrow the last Saturday of July. Though she knew Ron was bound to bring Lavender to the party, Hermione accepted, knowing she wouldn't be able to avoid Ron for the rest of time. And she wanted to celebrate Harry's birthday as he deserved it.

Molly ended the call by telling Hermione she was welcome to bring a guest, which Hermione didn't plan to do but she did thank Molly and said she would let her know.

The last person Hermione had to speak to regarding her job transition was Arata Matsuda, who she spoke to via Floo. She explained that while her offer still stood with him, she'd have to approach things a little differently now that she had an employer backing her research. Arata understood and promised that as soon as Hermione was ready, his doors were open for her to begin her research. She told him to expect her reply in the first week of August and wished him and his wife well in the meantime.

By the last week of July, Hermione was feeling more like herself than she had in ages. She was about to begin a job she was certain she would love, she was back to spending time with the people who meant the most to her, and there were no dark clouds hanging over her due to her relationship with Ron.

Well, there was one dark cloud, as it turned out.

On Hermione's last day at St. Mungo's, she went out to lunch with her colleagues, then finished her exit paperwork before going to Ginny and Harry's home for a mini-party. Hermione and Ginny celebrated with fizzy drinks and foods from around the world before Ginny sat Hermione down to tell her something serious. Hermione almost hadn't believed Ginny, but it was clear from the look on Ginny's face that she wasn't just trying to pull one over on Hermione.

"Lavender's pregnant." Ginny explained. "I've already explained to Mum that Lavender is in no way allowed to announce this at Harry's party, but I don't trust her, and I wanted you to know now just in case it comes up."

"She's pregnant?" Hermione asked, Ginny nodding gravely as she waited for a negative response, her hand hovering over a tissue box she had prepared just in case.

"So then it's a shotgun wedding." Hermione giggled and Ginny sighed in relief. "This is just so Ronald."

"Don't laugh," Ginny whinged. "I'm going to be an aunt to the spawn of Lavender! What are they going to name it, Rosemary? Lemongrass?"

The pair laughed until they cried and Hermione wiped away her tears before thanking Ginny for warning her.

"I would suggest bringing a friend." Ginny spoke. "Maybe just as moral support? Or someone who might make Ron jealous?"

"Uh huh, and I'm sure you have no one in mind." Hermione asked, knowing where this was going.

"Well, I just think that maybe, quite possibly, Malfoy might make a good addition to this party that I'm already certain will go sideways." Ginny shrugged.

"I'm not making Draco my pawn." Hermione retorted. "He's my friend, and I'm not going to use him just to take the piss out of Ron."

"What if I invite him then?" Ginny asked. "Truly. As a guest, and not because I want to see Ron's head explode."

"Why would you do that?" Hermione asked, though she wasn't opposed to the idea. Draco never talked about his friends, and Hermione wasn't sure he even had any outside of the clique he'd led at Hogwarts. If he even spoke to those people still.

"Because he's your friend." Ginny answered like it was obvious. "And if he's going to stay your friend, it would be good for him to get along with all of us."

"And what better way to force a friendship than by inviting him to the Burrow, a home filled with wizards he once called blood traitors?"

"Don't try to pull that, I know he's not that much of a prat anymore." Ginny quipped. "You've been defending him and his...rehabilitation into mainstream society, so you shouldn't oppose my extending an invitation to Harry's party, should you?"

"I guess not." Hermione sighed. "But if anyone makes fun of him -"

"I'll kick them out, don't worry." Ginny reassured Hermione. "I will bully the bullies out of the party."

"Fine! Then I'll see you Saturday?" Hermione asked, yawning as she stood from the sofa.

"Yes, see you then." The two hugged and Hermione Flooed home, grabbing a book from her living room before snuggling into bed and reading herself to sleep.

On Saturday morning, Hermione showered then stared at her open wardrobe, assessing what to wear. It was supposed to be warm and sunny, so she ruled out her heavier jumpers and wool trousers, gravitating toward the few summer dresses she owned. She stared at them carefully, not wanting to look like she was trying too hard, lest her ex take it as an act of desperation to win him back, nor did she want to look like she wasn't trying at all, what with a certain friend possibly in attendance. Hermione wasn't certain if Draco would be at the party (after all, she didn't want to force him into accepting by bothering him with the question), but she was hopeful he would, even if it was just to say hello and goodbye. Perhaps she could convince him to stay for longer.

Hermione settled on a floral sheath dress and a wheat-coloured cardigan. She left her hair down, put on some tinted lip balm, and slid into a pair of white trainers before grabbing Harry's gift and Flooing to the Burrow. She was glad to see that Ginny and Molly were still setting up for the party when she stepped out of the fireplace, and as soon as she set her gift down, Hermione stepped in to help.

"Hermione, dear! So lovely to see you." Molly hugged Hermione and kissed her on the cheek. "You've been well, haven't you?" Molly held Hermione by the shoulders and looked for confirmation before she let go.

"Yes, I have been, thank you. You as well?" Hermione asked and Molly nodded once.

"Never better. Now come help us decorate, we need as many wands as we can get." Molly led Hermione to the backyard where several Weasleys were using magic to assemble the tables spread across the grassy area, dropping tablecloths and centerpieces as they went. Hermione stepped in as support, and gathered up the plates and silverware, sending one to each table setting across the ten tables that had been put together. Once they were done with the tables, Ginny sent Hermione to put together the table for gifts, knowing how much Hermione would enjoy putting together the puzzle that was boxed presents. She did enjoy it, actually, the monotonous but tidying task feeding into her goal for perfection, and as she was finishing up, Hermione heard music starting up, which must have meant that guests were arriving. She wiped her hands on the back of her dress and greeted those she knew, taking the time to catch up with those she hadn't seen in months, possibly years. When Neville asked her how her research was going, she promised him she would catch him up as soon as she could. He gave her a look that indicated she had a lot of catching up to do, which she agreed with. After all, she had only told a couple of people that she planned to switch jobs, and several of those she hadn't had already approached her with the question: 'so...Malfoy Investments?'

Hermione was having such a pleasant time catching up with friends that she almost didn't notice Ron and Lavender slip in. Well, she didn't notice until Lavender laughed just a bit too hard at someone's joke, and then it became difficult to ignore the duo, or perhaps, more accurately, it became more difficult to ignore Lavender. Ginny had been right to assume Lavender would make no attempt at hiding her pregnancy; she turned down every drink with no reason, pinched her nose and fanned the air as she perused the buffet, and most damning of all, spent nearly half the day with her hand pressed against her almost perfectly flat belly.

Ginny and Hermione shared looks throughout the day, and when they were seated together for lunch, Ginny admitted she almost wanted to announce she was pregnant again to steal back the attention Lavender was trying so hard to take in the first place. Hemrione looked at Ginny for a long moment, and Ginny confirmed that she wasn't pregnant, but would it be so bad to fake a pregnancy to interrupt a rude guest?

Molly looked torn, Hermione noted, at whether she should intervene between her daughter and future daughter-in-law, but when it came down to it, Harry didn't seem to care at all so no one did anything. "If she announces it, she's just making a fool of herself," Harry explained with a shrug.

After lunch, guests were free to peruse the property and chat before the cake was served, so Hermione made her way to a table occupied by Neville and Luna, secretly disappointed that Draco hadn't shown up, but at least her friends could keep her occupied with stories of their lives.

It was almost time for cake when it got eerily quiet, and when she looked around, Hermione realised it was because Draco had made an appearance. He stood in the doorway with Molly, who had guided him into the yard. Looking wholly out of place in a black suit, Draco stood uncomfortably, holding an overfussed, brightly packaged gift box. The visual made Hermione snicker into her hand and while Draco looked around, presumably for her, she did nothing to help. This was his moment to find his own footing within her friend group. Besides, he was a big boy. He could handle introducing himself.

Or perhaps he couldn't. Draco sputtered out a "hello" before Molly guided him by the shoulders over to the gift pile, and from the distance Hermione was at, it looks like she gave him a full set of instructions before he set his gift down. She then scanned the party, locked eyes with Hermione, and pointed Draco at her. When they made eye contact, Draco narrowed his eyes, thanked Molly, then stalked across the yard over to Hermione's table.

"Hello, all." Draco greeted the table awkwardly. Luna said hello and Neville nodded his head, leaving Hermione to grin up at Draco.

"Afternoon." Hermione replied. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Yes, well I received a very last minute invitation. Rather uncouth if you ask me, I'll have to speak to the host about it." He muttered. "But in the meantime, may I borrow you?" Draco asked, and Hermione put her elbow on the table, resting her chin on her fist.

"I think we can speak here, there's nothing private that we need to discuss at the moment, is there?" Hermione asked, enjoying teasing Draco. When he couldn't come up with a good retort, she laughed and pulled him by the arm into the empty seat at the table. "They're not going to bite, Draco, this is probably the safest table you could be at to start the day."

"It's true." Luna commented airily. "I'm wearing Aconite root in this pendant, anything that bites will stay far far away from us." She smiled at Draco, who smiled back before looking back to Hermione.

"I haven't entered another dimension, have I?" Draco asked both Hermione and Neville. "One where I'm chummy with all the Gryffindors and am about to be savagely attacked by an invisible beast?"

"Depends, mate, do you plan on selling us out to another maniac?" Neville asked and Hermione tensed. She watched Draco for a response.

"Not at the moment, no." Draco confirmed, as though his plans could shift at the drop of a hat.

"Then we're chums." Neville reached across the table to shake Draco's hand with a laugh, and Hermione let out her breath.

"Welcome to the 'friends of Gryffindors' club." Luna shook his hand as well.

"That's right, you were Ravenclaw, weren't you?" Draco asked and Luna nodded. "You know, as proud as I was to be the billionth Malfoy to be put into Slytherin, by fifth year or so, I had really begun to wish I'd been put in Ravenclaw."

"Oh?" Luna asked. "Why is that?"

"I really needed a tutor." Draco jested, and Luna looked thrilled at the thought of sharing her knowledge with a new person. The group settled into conversation, and Hermione watched happily. If she had felt like things were beginning to go right when she accepted his job offer, she was certain they were going right now, watching Draco merge into her friend group.

Once the conversation was running itself, Hermione excused herself and found Ginny in the kitchen, prepping the cake with candles.

"Need any help?" Hermione asked, leaning against the counter.

"No, I think I'm almost - Hermione!" Ginny yelped as she looked up and saw who had offered help. "He came!" She leaned over the table, yelling in a hushed whisper.

"He did." Hermione confirmed with a small smile. "And he's already buttered up Luna and Neville, they're either really great actors or they like him."

"No you don't understand, Hermione." Ginny set down the candles she hadn't added to the cake yet and approached Hermione with the widest grin. "Everyone was just starting to talk about Lavender when he walked in."

"So instead of using him as my pawn, you used him as yours." Hermione stated.

"No! Merlin, no, it was an unexpected benefit. I promise, I just wanted you to be happy so I invited your friend, but the unintended benefit was that all the attention Lavender's been harvesting since she arrived has been shifted off of her and onto the latest guest. Honestly, any distraction would have been ideal, but to have it be Malfoy that draws all the attention - "

"Wait a moment." Hermione held her hand up. "The way you just said friend. Like we weren't really friends."

"Oh." Ginny blinked. "No, it's just that, erm, I kind of assumed you were friends in the way that Harry and I were friends for most of school." When Hermione didn't respond, Ginny continued. "You know, the kind of friends where if you find you're alone together, and you've been talking for hours, perhaps you're a little tippled from the drinks you had earlier in the night over a rousing game of 'who can go the longest without blinking,' and then you just...maybe snog for a while. Are you not that type of friends with Malfoy?" Ginny asked innocently, though she knew Hermione well enough to know that line of questioning would either get her to admit something had happened, or maybe think about doing it the next time they were alone.

Hermione felt herself flush at the suggestion of snogging Draco, and while she didn't remember doing it, the sensation felt familiar.

"No, he's not that kind of friend." Hermione asserted. "At least I don't think so." She muttered.

"You don't think so?" Ginny asked. "Blimey, Hermione, how arseholed did you get that you don't remember snogging Malfoy?"

At that statement, Hermione gasped, her suppressed memories flooding back to her. The pub, the drinking, the kiss, her confession that her feelings for Draco were confusing but not unwanted, the snogging.

"Oh god." Hermione sat at the table and put her face in her hands. "I snogged Draco."

"I knew it." Ginny said to herself proudly before sitting next to Hermione, one hand on her friend's back to comfort her.

"How didn't you remember it?" Ginny asked, genuinely curious.

"We had legilimency used on us." Hermione explained, rubbing her temples. "We're investigating his parents' murder, and we had a lead that we followed, only to wake up the next morning with an altered memory as to what we had found out that night. I guess we ended the night at a pub and well, we snogged."

Ginny didn't generally care much about people's love lives, they weren't all that interesting, but since the pairing of Hermione and Draco had popped up on her radar, she was suddenly very invested.

"So then he doesn't know either." Ginny supposed. "When are you going to tell him?"

Hermione looked over at Ginny like she had grown another head. "I don't know. How do you even go about telling someone something like that?"

"'Hi Draco, so remember that night we were legilimenced? Well, I remembered the evening, and we snogged. A lot. And we enjoyed it?'" Ginny looked to Hermione for confirmation. Hermione did the smallest of nods and Ginny smirked. "'Yes, we enjoyed it. And I'd like to do it again if your schedule is open.'"

"Ginny, come on."

"What? I have said some variation of that to Harry at least a dozen times. And guess what? He agreed to more snogging every time."

"Okay, thank you for the help." Hermione rolled her eyes. "Can we get Harry's cake ready so we can just get out there and I can forget this for the time being?"

"Fine." Ginny agreed, standing back up to finish the candles. "But you have to tell me if you kiss him again?"

"Yes, I promise I will tell you." Hermione pacified, searching for the matches. The Floo roared to life and through it, Bill and Fleur stepped into the small sitting room of the Burrow.

"Bonjour!" Fleur called, greeting Molly, Arthur, and Ginny with kisses. "Bonjour, Hermione." She smiled warmly as she rounded the table.

"Hello, Fleur." Hermione greeted. Because she still had the evening of investigation on her mind, she asked Fleur about her contact at the French Ministry and if they had found anything for Augustin Savatier yet.

"Oh sacré bleu, I forgot to follow up. Let me Floo him now, before we join the party."

"No, no, that's not necessary, you can check in at any time."

"I will forget if I wait." Fleur admitted, though when she announced a flaw, it almost seemed like she was looking for a compliment. "It is, uh, baby brain?" She looked to Bill for reassurance, and he nodded. "Yes, my memory is not the strongest since Louis' birth. It will get better! But for now, it is only so-so." She glanced over at Ginny, who had put all the candles in the cake and lit them already.

"I will wait until the cake has been served, then." She smiled at Ginny, who smiled back tightly, and the group went outside, presenting the cake to Harry with a song. While singing, Hermione glanced over and noticed Draco was still with Luna and Neville, and looked like the song was nearly killing him, though Luna was trying to encourage him by acting as a conductor. It wasn't working, but it was cute.

Once the song had been sung, Harry blew out the candles and everyone cheered, mostly because they wanted cake. Ginny cut the cake and floated all the slices out to the tables, so Hermione returned to her original seat next to Ginny, waving Draco over. He shook his head, pointed to his seat and gave a thumbs up. It made Hermione laugh, especially when she explained to Ginny and Harry that Draco would rather listen to Luna tell stories than join them.

"Who doesn't want to join us?" Lavender asked as she sat down. Ron joined her, both having come from chatting with others at another table.

"Malfoy." Ginny blurted out, still clearly enjoying that Draco's presence detracted from Lavender's 'I'm pregnant but I won't say it' act.

"Ah." Lavender's smile dropped into something less genuine. "Well, that's for the best, isn't it?"

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked, her voice low and clear. She didn't like engaging with Lavender, she didn't want to seem like a jealous ex, but she drew the line when Lavender targeted her friends.

"Well, he's him, and we're us." Lavender continued, hoping Hermione would read between the lines. "Like oil and vinegar."

"The simile is 'like oil and water,' Lavender, not 'oil and vinegar.'" Hermione said through gritted teeth. If she was going to be rude, the least she could do was get the insult right.

"There's no real difference." She sniffed, resting her hand on Ron's as though it gave her some sort of power.

"Actually, there's quite a difference." Harry cut in, and Hermione could not have been more thankful. "Oil and water taste like shite, but oil and vinegar make most dishes better." He looked at Hermione. "It's actually a compliment to say Malfoy is the oil to our vinegar. Means we aren't the same but we go well together." Harry and Hermione shared a small smile of recognition, and neither cared too much when Lavender sputtered out a reason to leave the table.

"You know," Ginny started, "if she wanted everyone to know she was pregnant, maybe she should be thinking of a better way than going to the loo every ten minutes."

Harry, Ginny, and Hemrione started snickering and Ron let out an exasperated sigh.

"You know, the least you three could do is be welcoming to her." Ron complained. "I mean, bloody Malfoy is sitting five tables away and I haven't said a thing, but Lav shares her opinion and you all gang up on her."

"Well, maybe if her opinion wasn't at the expense of another human, then we wouldn't have said anything." Ginny retorted. "I will be nice to Lavender so long as she is nice to my friends and my friend's friends. Which she is not doing at the moment, so I will not be nice."

Ron mumbled something unintelligible before finding an excuse to take his and Lavender's slices of cake to another table.

"You don't have to stand up for me, you know." Hermione spoke. "I don't want to make you pick between me and Lavender."

"There would be no competition." Harry grinned. "I cannot think of a single circumstance in which we'd pick Lavender over you, Hermione."

"Thank you, but that's not the point." Hermione refocused the conversation. "The point is that Lavender is part of this group now, like it or not. And I don't want to fight all the time."

"Fair enough." Ginny sighed. "I suppose we really can't get rid of her now, but it was nice to pretend we could." She looked at Harry wistfully, who agreed.

"Yes, it was nice. But I suppose Hermione's right. Unfortunately." Harry muttered. "Anyway, Malfoy, eh? Whose idea was it to invite him today?"

"It was me." Ginny volunteered. "He's Hermione's friend now, so I guess now he's our friend, too. Though I hope not the type of friend he is to Hermione." Ginny winked and it took all of Hermione's willpower not to overreact to Ginny's statement. There would have been no benefit to denying it, not when Harry and Ginny spoke the same language.

"Oh, he's that type of friend, eh?" Harry looked a little queasy. "Okay, well then I guess we should say hello, yeah?"

"I think he'd appreciate that." Hermione commented. "He feels wildly guilty for everything he did for Voldemort, I think your approval would go a long way for him."

"It's because I'm the chosen one." Harry smirked.

"No, we're not starting that again." Hermione cut him off. "It would mean a lot to him because you represent the opposite of everything he once endorsed. But if you can't get through a conversation without saying you're the chosen one, maybe we should reschedule."

"No, no, I'll keep my mouth shut." Harry agreed, so Hermione waved Draco over once more, and this time he reluctantly got up and made his way toward Hermione's table.

This is it. She thought to herself. The moment that would define their friendship. Or friendship, if Ginny was right.


"I don't know what to tell him." She sighed, playing with the fur around Crookshanks ears. "I mean, it's quite obvious that there is something between us, but it only happened when we were drunk. That doesn't mean I should tell him while we're sober."

"Does it help if he already knows?"