A/n: Please note this will not follow all of the events of the cursed child. Not my usual shipping! But thought it was an interesting story idea!

Chapter 1 The Memories We Share

"Minister! An urgent owl has arrived from Witch Weekly. They're still pestering you about the Female Witches in power article!"

Hermione Granger huffed under her breath as she brushed aside one pile of paper work for another.

"Ethel why are we even having this conversation? I've made it very clear that I have no intentions in partaking in a fiasco that will only set back the rights of female Witches in high ranking jobs…"

"Several years." Ethel, her assistant nodded knowingly. "Just thought I would check. I'll write an owl back as soon as possible. Also your husband is waiting outside."

Hermione cursed under her breath. The Weasley family dinner was tonight, once again she had forgotten. Looking around the office at the mess of papers and peering at her floating to-do-list above her head she knew there was little chance of leaving on time. Ronald Weasley, however, would not be very understanding of this. Taking a deep breath and bracing herself for the conversation ahead Hermione motioned for Ethel to show Ron into her office. As Ron's talk figure filled the doorway, Hermione hastily threw off her thick rimmed glasses and bopped around the desk to greet him. He flung his arms around her waist and pulled her up into his arms as he gave her a soft sweet kiss. After twenty years of marriage it still made Hermione swoon that he was able to literally sweep her off her feet.

"Bloody hell Hermione! It's a right mess in here! Ethel's going to have some serious tidying to do! "

Hermione pulled away from him slightly as she prepared to break the news to him.

"Actually love Ethel won't be tidying this up. I'm afraid I can't come this evening. All this work still needs doing and I've got to go and visit Draco about his attendance at work. I'm sorry."

Ron began to pace rather furiously before pausing to stare at Hermione a rather sad look on his face.

"Again Hermione. Hugo was really looking forward to spending time with you and the rest of the family tonight."

"Well I'll start later tomorrow morning and spend time with him before work." Hermione insisted.

Ron shook his head at her shamefully. "He's sleeping over at Harry's remember! Lily invited him. Honestly do you pay any attention to your own family?"

"Of course I do. I just forgot is all. I love Rose, Hugo and you. I spend time with him when I can. My job has to take some presidence Ronald!" Hermione was infuriated with his claims.

"But do you really spend time with Hermione? I sit with Hugo every day. Do you know his favourite things or his favourite foods? What does he like to do before bedtime?"

"Of course I do…" Hermione faltered slightly. She knew the things Ron was saying were true. But she was so furious, with herself mostly, that it was easier to hit back.

"Besides it's easier to have all the time in the world when you manage a Joke Shop part time and fill in as an Auror once in a blue moon!"

A long hurtful silence followed. Hermione knew she hadn't meant the words as soon as they had left her mouth. Ron didn't say anything he just wore a disappointed look on his face as he made his way towards the door. He stopped quickly at the doorway and his back turned to her as he sadly said.

"Wizards chess. Pumpkin pasties, chocolate frogs. Hogwarts a History."

Hermione was puzzled. It took her a few seconds to register that his words were the answers to his previous questions. But before she had a chance to reply Ron was gone and out the door. For a moment she contemplated running after him and agreeing to go to the dinner. But in her logical mind she knew that neither of these things were possible. Slumping into her desk, Hermione looked around her office with its tall walls and glass ceiling. Minister for Magic. If someone had told her that twenty years ago she would have laughed. Yes. Her career had been successful and she had worked hard to get here and achieve the highest ranking possible within the Ministry. But it had come with many sacrifices. Hermione was the one to return to work when the children were only a few months old and Ron had stayed home. Family outings as a four or even a three when Rose returned to Hogwarts were rare. As for evenings out and dates with her husband, Hermione couldn't remember the last time they had gone anywhere, just the two of them. Then when Hermione was made Minister five years ago, Ron agreed to work part time so she could achieve her dream job. Yet here she was now throwing it back at him rather ungratefully. Of course their marriage had survived twenty years and they're relationship twenty one years. Except this last year had been strained. They had been arguing for some time and sometimes when she returned home late, which was often, she would sleep in the spare bedroom to avoid waking him. Which meant intimacy was very rare. To make matters worse, Ron had recently suggested the idea of having another baby. Having just turned 40 and Ron's fortieth birthday fast approaching she felt they were simply too old. This had erupted into an ongoing argument for the past month. With Ron stating that her career was affecting her decision to agree to another child. Whilst Hermione simply felt he was going through a midlife crisis and thought another baby was a distraction from the ageing. Her thoughts were brought to a stop by a tap on the door. It was Ethel holding a purple coat and bag and wearing a sympathetic look on her face.

"Sorry to disturb you Minister. But your appointment with Mr. Malfoy is due to start in five minutes."

Hermione glanced at her watch. Jumping up frantically as she noticed the time.

Ethel walked up behind her helping her into her coat sleeves.

"If you ask me Minister. It's an absolute outrage that Mr. Malfoy expects you to visit his home. Why should you take orders from him?"

"Ethel please." Hermione pleaded as she buttoned up her coat. "Have some compassion. His wife did die five months ago."

Ethel let out a grumble. "Well that doesn't mean you stop showing up for work. Especially when you have a child to provide for."

"I'll see you tomorrow Ethel." Hermione said as she took her bag and quickly made her way out the office.

******,**************************************

A feeling of deep unease fell upon Hermione as she entered through the gates of Malfoy Manor. Twenty one long years had passed since she had last been inside its walls. The memories of Bellatrix torturing her still haunted her to this day. As she walked down the long drive to the manor, she could have sworn that the 'mudblood' scar engraved into her wrist stung. She brushed this off as her mind playing tricks. The sun had set early that October evening and dark clouds had appeared across the sky, enclosing the Manor in darkness. Holding out her wand she muttered Lumos under her breath to light her way. Once at the door she rang the bell and waited as it chimed three times before a long pause followed. Hermione heard no signs of movement from within, she was just about to ring the bell again when suddenly she heard the sound of footsteps and a cautious but annoyed voice calling out to ask who was there.

"It's the Minister for Magic Mr Malfoy. We have an appointment this evening at 6:00pm. Please open up."

"Go away Granger. I've told you all before I don't wish to speak with anyone."

Hermione let out a sigh at his rudeness. "Mr Malfoy. The Ministry would appreciate your cooperation. Your job is as it stands very much in jeopardy and I would like to repair the situation before it is unfixable."

"I don't care anymore. I don't need the job. I just wish to be left alone."

Deciding to take a different approach, Hermioned let down her authoritative guard and tried to reach out to Draco as a parent.

"Draco please. Think of Scorpius. Regardless of whether you need the job for income or not, don't you want Scorpious to see his father getting up and living his life. Allowing him to see you in this state when he is home will only make the pain your both going through harder. I urge you to fight Draco. For your family. It's what Astoria would have wanted."

"Don't talk about Astoria!" Draco cried. Hermione couldn't be certain but she was sure that she heard tears.

"I'm sorry. I know it's not my place. I know I didn't really know her. But I am a wife and mother myself. I know that if anything happened to me I would want Ron to carry on and keep going for Rose and 't Scorpius deserve that?"

There was a long pause, followed very swiftly by the sound of a key in the door and a bolt being pulled across. Hermione gasped in shock as the door pulled open and her eyes fell upon Draco. His silver blonde hair was overgrown and dishevelled and his chin was covered with uncut grey stubble. A man that once looked youthful despite being older appeared to have aged within a matter of months. His evergreen eyes were bloodshot red and grey circles were beneath his eyes indicating a lack of sleep.

"Go ahead Granger. Tell me how terrible I look."

Hermione rolled her eyes. Despite their many years of working together at the ministry, he still didn't care to show her the respect she deserved. Often calling her the same thing he had during their school years as a way to taunt her. She waited until she had safely stepped inside the house before commenting.

"Look Malfoy. If you're not going to refer to me as Minister. That's fine. I'm perfectly at ease with that. However, I draw the line at being called Granger. Please could you at least call me Hermione."

"Fine. This way Hermione!" He instructed as he walked towards two very wide black doors. Although Hermiione hadn't set foot in the Manor in years, she instantly recognised which room he was headed to. She clutched at her wrist frantically.

"No not that room!" She yelled. "Anywhere but there."

Draco looked at her perplexed. But watching her clutching her arm and staring at the doors, it quickly registered in his mind. Shaking his head awkwardly he motioned towards a room further down the hall. Hermione followed after him, desperately trying not to look at the room. Eventually they came to a large study, Hermioned was pleased to find two rather welcoming chairs situated beside a welcoming fire. She couldn't help but notice he had a half empty bottle of brandy beside one chair, signifying that he had been sat there before.

"Can I get you a drink?" He asked motioning to the brandy bottle.

Hermione shook her head insistently as she sat down in the chair opposite him, gently placing her bag down but keeping her coat firmly on. She was very conscious of the fact that he didn't want company and didn't want to appear as if she was staying long.

"Suit yourself." Draco remarked as he took a big slug from the bottle, slumping into his chair lethargically. "What brings you here anyway?"

"Well the thing is Draco. Whilst the Ministry is sympathetic towards grieving, we also need our staff to show up for work. If you'll remember rightly this is why I suggested a career break to have some time to grieve properly."

"Yes and I told you I was fine!" Draco insisted.

"Come on Draco. You're clearly not fine. You rarely show up for work and when you do it's usually half way through the day and often you leave early. This isn't the Draco I remember. The Draco I remembered was one of the most reliable and skilled lead aurors. Whilst I know you're still those things, your focus is clearly no longer on your job. Of course I understand why you're doing it, but it's been much worse this past month and people are calling for your dismissal."

"So you're here to fire me!" Draco announced as he threw the brandy bottle around in the air. "Go ahead. I'm sure you've been waiting to put me in my place for years!"

"No of course not!" Hermione said in outrage. "I'm here to talk some sense into you before it gets to that point. I know that you're hurting. I know that it's hard…"

Draco slammed his brandy bottle down on the nearby table so hard it made Hermione flinch.

"You don't know how much I'm hurting! You don't know how hard it is! You don't know how it feels to be so lonely at night that you prefer to sleep in your study on the sofa than alone in bed. You don't know how hard it is to comfort your son every time he cries because he misses his mother. You don't know how hard it is to let the only part of my wife that I have left return to school leaving me here all alone. You don't know how hard it is to put your own grief and feelings aside so you can be strong for your family. Most importantly you don't know how hard it is to lose the only person who ever really loved and understood you!"

Hermione hung her head down in shame. He was right; she didn't know or understand how he felt. At this point tears of anger and anguish began to fall from his eyes and he tried to turn away so Hermione wouldn't see him.

"You're right. I don't know." Hermione agreed as she stood up to stand beside him. "But I would like to help you Draco. I think the one thing Astoria would want is for you and Scorpius to keep living life. For her if not for yourself."

Draco turned to look at her, a knowing look across his face.

"Please return to work. At least part time to begin with. Your job used to bring you so much joy. It could be a welcoming distraction."

"I'll think about it." Draco said finally as he hastily wiped his eyes.

"Take a week. Get yourself sorted out and let me know."

"Thank you." Draco said slightly begrudgingly. Hermione nodded in response. She was going to quickly leave without much further fuss, but as she went to pick up her bag she was startled to see him standing closely beside her.

"I remember you know." He said silently.

Hermione raised her eyebrows at him in confusion.

Draco uncharacteristically grabbed her arm and pulled up her coat sleeve, revealing her slightly faded but very visible mudblood scar. Their eyes met for a split second causing a strange feeling to spread across Hermione. A feeling that she couldn't describe.

"I remember that day. I didn't want her to hurt you. I didn't even want to be there. I wanted to help you but I couldn't. If I did she would have hurt me and my family."

Hermione knew who he was referring to.

"It wasn't your fault Draco. Besides it was a very long time ago. It's all forgotten now."

"I had. Until today. How can you stand here and offer me your kindness when I never showed you even the slightest bit of kindness in all this time?"

"Because I know that you're a good man. Much better than anyone else in your family."Hermione told him.

She was suddenly very aware of how closely they were standing together and of the gentle hold he had of her wrist.

"I should go." Hermione told him snatching her arm back from his grasp. "Please let me know if you'll be returning to work."

Before he had a chance to respond, Hermione had marched her way towards the front door and was swiftly outside. She ran all the way towards the gates and apparated back to her office as quickly as was physically possible. For reasons she couldn't explain the whole encounter had caused her to feel very uncomfortable. But she just couldn't fathom why. More to the point she was very confused by the feel of his touch on her skin and the effect it had on her body.

A/N: End of Chapter 1. Please let me know what you think! Next chapter will have some more awkward encounters between Draco and Hermione, so keep reading!