The Golden Girl, Hermione Jean Granger, returns to the Wizarding world.

Hermione Jean Granger, the only female of the Golden Trio returned to the wizarding world five months ago as the new transfiguration professor of Hogwarts after a year of absence. No reasons were cited for her departure but many suspects that it is due to her then-boyfriend Ron Weasley. Two years ago, before Ms Granger left the wizarding world, Mr Weasley was seen buying a ring at the most exquisite jewellery shop in London. However, they seem not to pursue their relationship as Mr Weasley dated other witches afterwards and Ms Granger was not seen wearing a ring after she was spotted at Three Broomsticks last Friday.

After the Second Wizarding War, Ms Granger returned to Hogwarts to finish her schooling while Harry Potter and Ron Weasley went into Auror training. After graduating Hogwarts with all Outstanding, the Brightest-Witch-of-the-Age joined the ministry where she worked for the next three years until the age of 23. She left the wizarding world for a year and it is still unsure whether she kept contact with her friends. She returned quietly in the last week of August. She will be working with her childhood schoolmates Hannah Abbott and Neville Longbottom who are currently engaged as well as Draco Malfoy.

There has been one source citing that Harry Potter, Ginny Potter and Hermione Granger were seen at the Three Broomsticks last Friday. It seems there is still a sombre relationship between Ms Granger and Mr Wesley as he was not seen with the Chosen-One, The Golden Girl and the former Quidditch player...

"Merlin! What is wrong with Rita Skeeter?!" Hermione slammed The Daily Prophet on her desk, frustration seething through her veins at the speculation about her personal life. She rubbed the palm of her hand on her temples as she counted the number of legal and illegal hexes she could administer on that animagus.

"I think she's getting some of her writing flair back. It's been stagnant for a while now."

The drawl and huskiness in the voice made her jolt slightly in her seat and she turned around to find Malfoy hovering over her shoulder, reading the paper. The familiar mocking smirk adorned his face and she frowned at his reaction.

"Malfoy, it's not funny."

Malfoy raised a pale eyebrow at her, the slight curve of his mouth still present, "I thought you liked my sense of humour Granger. Or is it likeable only after five shots of firewhiskey?"

She rolled her eyes in response but a small smile lingered on her lips. She followed him with her eyes as he took the folded piece of paper and chucked it in the bin. He turned to look at the woman sitting behind the desk.

"We're late for breakfast."

Hermione sighed before walking with Malfoy to the Great Hall. They were the last ones in the staffroom, being the few people who read their papers before breakfast.

"You should celebrate that she didn't know you were back until last Friday. Besides, I think she's just warming her quill."

Hermione stopped in her track and looked at Malfoy with her eyebrows raised, daring him to continue and give her a headache before her first cup of tea. He looked back at her, amusement in his grey eyes before he continued, "I think she's going to torture some poor Hufflepuff to spill some beans at their next Hogsmeade visit. You're her next prey, Granger. I can almost envision the dramatic newspaper headings."

"You're being very helpful."

The smirk plastered on his face made her scoff and she walked away, with him catching up with her in two large steps.

"Seriously Granger, don't let the article get to your head. You'll be insane before the end of the academic year."

"I know Malfoy," she replied as a defeated sigh escaped her mouth, "It's just that I've been away for a year. I've so much to catch up and with so many people—things like these make it difficult."

He hummed in response, glancing at her once before looking straight ahead, "It takes away the normalcy of life."

She nodded. He understood what she meant; he was not a novice to media attention. Hermione knew the type of hype that the media created for the redeemed, former death eater when he joined as the new Potions teacher after Slughorn retired two years ago. It was only by the Headmistress's willpower and faith that he got a chance to prove himself before the parents' could complain.

Hermione remembered how all the people who took part in the war were suddenly brought to the spotlight after the war ended. It felt like another war; with everybody wanting to know everything about the teenagers, the Order of the Pheonix, the Death Eaters, and the deaths. Exhausting was an understatement and Hermione was happy to nestle in Hogwarts for her 8th year. So were Neville, Hannah and Malfoy.

Hermione snapped out of her thoughts about life after the war when Malfoy's voice filled her ear.

"Granger. You were lost in your thoughts. The last thing I want is you landing face-first on the floor—" Malfoy paused for a second before looking at her with a glint in his eyes, "although it might be amusing, I don't want to walk beside a bloody nosed professor into the Great Hall."

She snorted in response. A memory flashed in her mind and she looked at the white-blonde besides her, "I've never gotten a bloody nose but I think you've..."

"Granger"

She quirked her eyebrow at him, a smirk on her face and she was sure she saw his eyebrows shoot up a little.

"I think I'm rubbing the Slytherin qualities on you."

Hermione cast another warming spell on herself as she walked down the hallway. The winter air was icy and she was sure her cheeks were frozen by now. After checking the last classroom in the hallway, she checked the time. It was past midnight. This was the fifth time she patrolled for the winter break and she was more than happy to tuck herself into bed with a warm cup of cocoa and a book.

Still looking at her watch and mumbling about hot cocoa, she crashed into someone as she turned around the corner. Rubbing her freezing, red button nose; she looked up to find Malfoy standing in front of her. His hand was placed on her shoulder to prevent her from falling back and hers was placed on his arm.

"What are you doing here? I thought Neville was supposed to patrol this part of the floor."

"Abbott is not well. He's sweating over a fever." A white puff of breath appeared in front of him and he ran his fingers through his hair, the white-blonde hair falling carelessly over his forehead. They continued patrolling together in silence and she was happy that they were no more students out in the corridors.

She cast another warming spell on herself but shivered when a gust of wind passed by. She swore under her breathe at the monstrous cold.

Hermione looked at her colleague walking beside her and found it disturbing that he wasn't freezing his arse off like she was. He looked the same as usual. He knew how to hide discomfort and emotions well but she somewhat felt offended that he didn't feel bothered by the cold. She exhaled deeply and watched her breathe materialise in front of her. It was almost like a dance, she noted, the way her breath mingled with the air before ceasing to exist.

There was a different type of peace in the castle during the winter night. The silver moonlight and the golden torchlight battled for dominance on the hallway, casting silver light on everything near the window and a golden light near the wall. Walking down the middle of the hallway, everything to the right was a warm hue and the other was hugged by the moonlight.

Hermione's arms were covered with a light golden hue and she looked at Malfoy to find him covered with the silver light of the moonlight.

She thought he was glowing when the moonlight touched his hair and lashes.

Her attention was cut off when she heard a small mewl from an empty classroom that they were passing by.

A mewl.

Then a groan.

And a moan.

Oh. Oh no. Hermione was not prepared for this situation. She went through her mind to think of all the possible ways to manage the situation if students were caught engaging in... intimate activities. Other than a few times she caught some Gryffindor students snogging behind the tapestry, she had no idea how others dealt with this situation.

Why did the majority of the Prefects go home for winter vacation?

Hermione followed Malfoy meekly, who was already at the door. He knocked on the door, told the students to make themselves decent within 30 seconds before waiting in front of the door with his hands folded over his chest. She heard the sound of a zipper being pulled up and some breathless words being passed between the students as the sound of rustling clothes filled the air.

When Malfoy opened the door, two seventh years were standing inside the classroom. Both their faces were flushed red, chest heaving and clothes crumpled. The boy's hair was spiked up in all direction and the girl's braids were a mess. It was post-coital bliss written on their faces.

Hermione's cheeks turned completely red and she regretted putting that many warming spells on herself.

"50 points from Ravenclaw and 50 points from Hufflepuff."

Malfoy's voice was disinterested as he spoke and she saw another white puff in front of his mouth. His expression was neutral and she desperately wanted to learn the art of managing facial expressions from him. A whine from one of the students made her look at them.

"Miss Baker, do you have an issue with point reduction? You know the rules: you're not supposed to be out of your dormitory after eleven." Hermione was the one to answer her whine and she felt immensely proud of herself for not sounding embarrassed as the students in front of her.

A sigh escaped Malfoy and he clucked his tongue before speaking, "Miss Baker, tomorrow you'll be serving detention with Hagrid. Mr Smith, you'll be cleaning the cauldrons." He narrowed his eyes at the students, "If you complain, I'll be extending your detention to a week."

The students looked wide-eyed at the warning before nodding their heads and beelined their way out of the class after Hermione dismissed them. They stopped in their track when Malfoy called them and turned around nervously to face their professor.

"Smith, return Baker's knickers before you go."

Hermione saw the boy pale to a ghostly colour and the girl turn red. The embarrassed boy took out the cloth, already half split out of his trousers and gave it to the girl who snatched it from him and shoved it into her skirt pocket. After muttering a cracked 'goodnight', they both rushed back to their dormitories.

The castle was silent once again with only the sound of rustling leaves and the distant footsteps – a soft reminder of what happened a few minutes ago, filling the air.

"Granger, you can breathe now. Your face is turning purple." Malfoy chuckled as he looked at her and she exhaled deeply immediately. She removed two of the warming spell cast on herself, embarrassed for her students and herself. He raised his eyebrow in amusement as she shook her head as if trying to dispel the image of her students out of her mind, "You're an adult Granger. If I'm correct, schools are not the only place where such things happen."

"Well, you don't go around reducing points or salary when you see people doing that in the ministry." She replied, "Merlin!"

A chortle left his throat, "Prude"

She glared at him as he tried to compose himself. Another chuckle escaped his lips as he shoved his hands inside his pocket and looked at the ground. She could see the trembling of his lower lips and how desperately he tried not to crack up. Feeling flustered, she turned on her heels and stomped away, rolling her eyes when the baritone of his laughter filled the hallway.

He caught up to her with three steps. She glared at him as he pretended to wipe away tears of mirth forming in the corner of his eyes.

"Malfoy!"

"What? Can't I find it absurdly funny that you were as embarrassed as the students? Seriously, Granger, you looked like a second year. Even Longbottom acts less awkward than you."

"It's my first time dealing with such a situation!" She animatedly moved her hand in the air as she sputtered to reply, "Godric! I hate you!"

Delight sparkled in his eyes as he folded his hands over his chest, "Don't lie, Granger, you wouldn't have survived if I wasn't there."

She stopped moving her hand mid-air, eyebrows furrowed as she considered what he said for a split second. And in that split second, he smirked at her. The audacity. She groaned at him and walked away.

"I hope you have a good year Professor Granger."

Hermione turned around, stuck her tongue out, completely aware that she acted like a child, huffed an angry goodnight and left the man in the hallway laughing.

His laughter was rich in her ears.

Back at her faculty apartment's living room, she snuggled on the sofa, a knitted blanket at her feet, Crookshanks at her side and a cup of hot cocoa in her hand. It was one in the morning and she stared at the put out fire, deep red amber on black coal. Other than the first years' papers she had no other work. She pondered about meeting Ginny; it's been a week since she last met her.

Or count the number of hexes she could aim at Rita Skeeter. A disgusted shudder passed her body and she sipped her cocoa, trying to wash down the negative thoughts.

Malfoy's laughter came to her mind as she tried to think of something positive and she smiled to herself. It was one of the rare moments and she regretted not turning around to see his face. She wondered how he would look like laughing: both corners of his mouth upturned, creases near his mouth and eyes, maybe his skin would turn red or his eyes would gleam with delighted mirth—

Crookshanks rubbed his head against her palm. He meowed and waited for her to share her thoughts. He purred happily as she scratched him behind the ear, tilting his head ever-so-slightly before looking at her.

"I was just thinking about my colleague."

Meow.

"I was just thinking about how much he has changed. He laughs now, do you know? I haven't seen him do that in front of others but sometimes he laughs. It's so different from when we were students. He used to smile a bit after the war, rarely, but he seems so different. He seems more... confident. People are healing from the war Crookshanks. Returning to Hogwarts was a good idea. "

Meow.

"Yes, he's still a git sometimes but we're friends now. Funny right? I'm friends with Draco Malfoy."

Meow.

Hermione,

I hope everything is alright in the wizarding world. After a year of having you with us all the time, it feels strange to not see you every day. It feels nostalgic too, especially with you going back to Hogwarts, I sometimes forget that you went back to teach instead of learning at the school.

We miss you a lot. But we believe in your wish to stay at the Wizarding world to heal and hope you are doing well.

How's work as a teacher? Do send some more pictures of your class. The first and second years are cute little pumpkins in those robes. Oh, I feel so old... Those pictures remind me of you in your first year, with the robes and the heap of books. I still have the pictures you send as a student and I'm still amused to see the moving pictures. Can you send me some photos that are not magical? I really want to show it to our neighbours.

Are you spending time with your friends? If you have any concerns regarding your friends and others, I'm all ears.

The flowers I planted two months back have bloomed wonderfully. I've sent you some photos. Your dad completely immersed himself in the baking world. It's kind of ironical since he tells the kids to not eat too many sweets but comes home and makes cupcakes for snacks. Last week, I was trying really hard to not laugh when he told an 11-year-old to not eat too much cake.

He made me a wonderful cake on our anniversary. He decorated it flower patterns. It was fantastic! I've sent you a photo of that as well. Next, you come home, he promises to make you your favourite chocolate cake.

Do send our love to your friends. Especially to Ginny (I pray she has a smooth pregnancy.)

Love,

Mom

...

Mom,

The flowers look lovely. Hogwarts is wonderful as always and I'm truly happy here. The winter here is harsher but Molly's knitted blanket and charming spells are enough to keep me cosy.

Teaching is wonderful as always. Some of the students remind me of my younger days. One of the second years tried to change their pet bird into a cup but to mispronunciation changed it into a cup with wings. Only a few students stayed back for the holidays but it's still hectic as always. They always break the curfew and it still boggles my mind that they want to venture into the cold corridors inside of staying inside their warm dormitories.

Ginny's doing wonderful. She'll be four months pregnant by the end of this month. Harry's clumsily protective of her but it's very cute to watch. Your anniversary seemed to have gone well and do tell dad that I miss him and will be happy to eat the cake he makes when I visit next time.

Neville Longbottom, the herbology professor, seemed to have taken a keen interest in your plants. He used to study with me and is a fellow Gryffindor. He wants to know your gardening secrets and asked me where he could get sunflower seeds. He also took a keen interest in the language of flowers and we had a very good discussion on the language of flowers.

The chocolates you sent were wonderful and for your information, I didn't finish them in one sitting. Both of you being dentists held me back. I gave some to my colleagues and surprise would have been the understatement! Especially the ones who didn't know about the muggle world (Longbottom and Malfoy) were completely taken back by the flavour.

Speaking of the muggle world, some of my students still find the profession of dentist scary. When I told the third years the story of dad's stitches, some of my students visibly paled. It was hilarious mom! Dad's going to have a laughing fit if he hears about it.

I have sent more photos of my students and my friends. I love you, mom and dad.

Love,

Hermione

Hermione sipped on the firewhiskey as she looked around Three Broomsticks. It was the second last day of the winter vacation and students would start arriving tomorrow. The Prefects had returned a week before and Hermione was more than happy to leave the night patrolling to them, not wanting to encounter another pair of students...

Downing her shot, she poured herself another glass. No Rita Skeeter and no hormonal teenagers. She was relieved to spend some time with her former schoolmates before officially starting another term.

Neville was swaying back and fro in his seat, having downed three shots of firewhiskey. Hermione frowned, "Neville, did you eat anything before coming here?"

He shook his head in negative, "Couldn't. The third-year papers were horrendous. Took me more days than I expected. Am already tipsy aren't I?"

"I don't think tipsy enough Longbottom. You're still guessing correctly." Malfoy drawled his answer as he downed another shot of firewhiskey, "But I think if you down another shot of firewhiskey and some Gin, you might reach your destination."

Hermione rolled her eyes in response. She was still amazed at Malfoy's ability to hold alcohol but it seemed that his sarcasm was more prominent with liquor in his body. Neville couldn't even differentiate whether he was being sarcastic when he was sober and Hermione looked as the Herbology professor wrapped his hand around Hanna's waist, gingerly muttering sweet nothingness to her ear. Hannah sipped on her drink, a small tint of red present on her cheeks.

"I'm gonna miss the peacefulness." Hannah said, "I don't know how professors feel about another term but with the coming Quiddich matches, being a school nurse is hard. I hope Madam Pompfrey never retires."

Hermione couldn't help but laugh, "I don't think she's ever going to retire. She's more than happy to help a student—"

"And plant a sloppy kiss on their cheek when they leave the infirmary, all healed."

Malfoy snorted beside her at Neville's comment and she couldn't help but let a giggle escape her throat.

"Dear Helga, I hope she never retires. I'm not giving kisses to the first and second years." Hannah declared as she sipped on her first butterbeer, her hand casually intertwined with Neville's, "Covering anything daunting for the next term?"

Hermione laughed once again, "Well, I'm teaching human transfiguration to the sixth and seventh years. I swear some students are going to end up with antlers and pig's tail. How about you Malfoy?"

"Fifth years are going to cover Amortentia"

Hannah and Hermione grimaced in response and Neville pushed the bottle of firewhiskey to Malfoy's side muttering he's going to need two bottles of that.

Hermione knew covering Amortentia was a tedious task. There were too many hormonal teenagers in the castle and some of them would try to slip some to someone but she couldn't help be curious.

"How bad is it?"

"Three students tried to give Amortentia laced sweets last year and potions classes are two steps away from being dating site." Malfoy replied, shuddering, "And I've to sit and watch the students ogle at each other."

"It's okay mate, one day you'll also find love," Neville said as he stood up, ungracefully, as he grabbed his coat. He continued speaking even when Malfoy snorted in response with ridicule etched in his voice, "Anyway, I'm retiring before I'm completely sloshed. Bye-bye. Are you staying love?"

Hannah stood up before he finished speaking, gulping down the rest of the butterbeer and a blush spread across her light skin. It was always amusing to Hermione how the couple, even though engaged for a year, still acted like awkward teenagers. Neville could only call her love in public when he was tipsy and she would always blush a deep red.

"Neville, I wish you luck with your classes, especially on mandrake." Hermione winked at the couple as their face flushed beet red.

Malfoy chuckled beside her before, "Don't shutter ten times before you call her your love in front of the students. I think the Slytherins are betting this term."

Hermione laughed as Neville gave them a toothy grin and walked to the castle with his fiancée. It was common for Neville to take the students to the infirmary if some of them injured themselves in his class. It was also common knowledge to the students and staff that he would try to call his fiancée 'love' and fail miserably.

Hermione drank another shot of firewhiskey, being so used to it that she didn't even grimace at the taste. Her 17-year-old self would have been aghast that she would be able to drink the bitter, burning alcohol like water.

"I've wine." She said after a moment of silence.

She and Malfoy never drank together in public without the company of a third party. It was always like that. In their 8th year, they studied in groups in the library, never just the two of them. The only times they did that was in their unisex dormitory that was given to the returned students and they would study in her room, parchment and books spread across the bed and table. They conversed more openly also when they were alone—even if the conversations were only about academics, their school time and sometimes, nightmares and the war.

The same habit carried years after, even when they became professors. She knew it was ridiculous since, in the end, they would end up in either of their room, drinking alcohol or hot cocoa—talking more about themselves, their lives and conversations resembling that of friends.

But they never questioned it.

Hermione's apartment followed the colour scheme of the Gryffindors: deep maroon, gold and shades of warm colours. With the plush couches, the rugs and the soft pillow, she had recreated the living room into a small comforting place to read books and lounge around. The fireplace was burning brightly and Crookshanks was lazily lounging on the chair adjacent to the couch when the two professors entered her home.

She shook her curly hair as she removed her beanie and ran her fingers through it, wondering whether it had turned into frozen popsicles before she tied it into a loose bun. She tossed her robes on the couch and went to the make-do kitchen, grabbing the wine and two glasses.

Malfoy was already seated on the couch, petting Crookshanks in the oh-so-sweet spot as the cat purred in content. Hermione was still confounded at her pet's acceptance of the grey-eyed man five months ago. She remembered years ago, he would hiss at the Slytherin whenever the platinum-haired boy came in his vision but now, her pet willingly placed himself on the man's lap or let him scratch him behind the ear. Even Ron never gained the half-kneazle's affection and the cat only sat on Harry's lap a few times.

Hermione never told Malfoy the last part. She knew he would make the smuggest face he could contort with his facial muscles if he knew.

She poured the wine as Crookshanks got up from Malfoy's lap and slide beside him, sitting between the two humans. He meowed to make his presence known and curled into a perfect puffball, waiting for the conversation to begin.

"So"

"So" Malfoy's voice was barely above a whisper and Hermione felt a small prick on the nape of her neck at the huskiness of his voice.

"I'm going to hex Rita Skeeter."

A chuckle escaped his lips and he sipped the wine, "I thought you decided to do that last week."

"I'm going to hex her and you'll have to defend me if something goes wrong." She smiled into the glass, eyeing him through the lashes, waiting for his response.

He cocked his eyebrow in response, his lips slightly curved to vaguely resemble a smile. One more sip of wine.

"Ignore her Granger. That's what I did."

Crookshanks stretched his paws out and moved to the middle of the couch. They would talk more now and he won't get any pleasant scratches. Curling once again, he lazily waved his tail, asking them to continue the conversation.

"There would always be speculation. She would go the end of the world to figure you out. As long as nobody holds a grudge against you, you'll be fine."

She knitted her eyebrows at his response and thought of the people who might hold a grudge against her.

"I don't think anybody holds a grudge against you Granger. You're a goody-shoes and a war heroine."

Hermione glared at him for the childish response but before she could counter, he continued, "You get along well with people and with that bleeding Gryffindor heart, people like you no matter what. That's why you didn't get howlers demanding to know why you broke up with the Weasel."

"Weasley"

An amused chuckle escaped his lips, "See, bleeding Gryffindor heart."

She scoffed in response, "I got a howler from Ron's mother." After a moment of silence, she continued, "Ron didn't talk to her for weeks and she freaked out. She was so confused about the breakup that she thought there was a third party involved."

Malfoy was clearly amused by the words coming out of her mouth. She watched as he leaned back, eyes glistening with interest as he listened to her, "Third-party?"

"She thought one of us was cheating or that I was pregnant with another's child."

Malfoy's eyes dropped to her stomach and she almost choked on the wine, "I was not pregnant. Nor was I cheating. There was no third party." She inhaled deeply, trying to get air into the lungs, "We had different life plans. Ron wanted a large family and I wanted something... less hectic. He wanted to get married and have kids immediately, and I wanted us to live together, then get married, have one or two kids after a couple of years."

"Too different from each other" Malfoy concluded and Hermione nodded in response. She didn't tell him that Ron and she fought a lot; sometimes about trivial points, sometimes about serious things that they wondered how they are even together. She thought about how Ron and she were like mismatched wooden puzzle pieces.

After a moment, he asked, confused, "Isn't getting married and living together the same thing?"

Hermione pondered for a moment on how to explain the benefits of living together before getting married to the pureblood wizard in front of her. Couples in the wizarding world usually never cohabited, getting married if the love lasted. Pureblood families were notorious for having Victorian era morals when it came to marriage.

"When you live together, you get to know the little, tiny details about your partner. Maybe they snore when they sleep, maybe they like to shower in the morning or they like their food a certain way. Living together means that you get to know the small and large things about your lover and to have to learn to compromise. In the muggle world, it's quite common to cohabitate before getting married."

Malfoy seemed to think about the things she told him. Although he kept a neutral expression, she could see the wheels turning in his head, his eyes looking into the distance as he thought.

After a moment of silence, he asked curiously, "Is that why muggles get married later in life?"

"Well, yes, one of the many reasons. Muggles tend to date longer also. For example, my cousin dated a bloke for 4 years, lived with him for another 3 years and then got married."

He hummed in response, thoroughly satisfied with the answer she gave. They fell into companionable silence, sipping on the crisp white wine. Feeling cold, she brought Molly's blanket, covering herself as she curled into the couch like her pet.

"Is that why you didn't visit the Burrow during the Christmas vacation?"

"No. Mrs Weasley understood. The hand-knitted blanket's the proof." she replied, lifting the blanket at her feet, "I thought it was better as a professor to stay back."

He nodded in response. She followed him with her eyes as he poured himself a glass of wine and the way his fingers curled around the glass.

Like moulded alabaster.

Clearing her throat softly, partially to catch his attention and mainly to focus her mind to the conversation, she asked, her voice neutral, "You got howlers?"

"Yeah. After my trial, when I joined Hogwarts for my 8th year," Malfoy's voice was neutral and Hermione couldn't read his expression, "but the most I received was when I joined Hogwarts as a professor."

Hermione remembered the howlers he received when they were students. It was only for one day but it left everybody shaken. Malfoy had blended himself perfectly into the background when he joined but after the arrival of howlers during breakfast, he was brought back to attention again. Many sneered at him when they walked past him in the hallway; muggle-borns avoided him like plague and the first years stared wide-eyed at the broken boy.

Even the Headmistress didn't expect the howlers and the Great Hall was quiet during and after the letters arrived. After that, the Headmistress only allowed Narcissa's owl to approach him throughout the year.

She still remembered the words thrown at him.

Death Eater! Coward! You should rot in Azkaban! It's a good thing your father's in Azkaban! Bane of everybody's existence! You defected to save your own life! Kill yourself!

She remembered how he sat quietly, expressionless, staring at the howlers and waiting for the shouting to end. And then he went back to eating his breakfast as if nothing happened.

Hermione brought her mind back to the present. She watched him, waited for him to add things but with the oncoming silence she realised that it was her turn to speak, to give a response and continue the conversation.

"But I think it's admirable you managed everything even if people weren't being fair to you." Hermione replied, "You didn't break under the pressure and you did what you wanted to do."

After a moment of silence, she added, "And you ignored them all." She squeezed out the words which lay thick between them.

His gaze never left her as he thought of the response, "Most of the time," he replied, "I got really good at ignoring things."

Moments like this showed her how mosaic he was. Made her realise that they hadn't talked to each other for almost four years.

"I see." Again her voice was strained and she felt she had too many drinks, "Then, I'll be brave as you and do the same."

He snorted softly, "I thought being brave was a Gryffindor thing."

"I think I'm rubbing the Gryffindor qualities on you." She replied, a small smile on her lips.

She rolled her eyes and laughed when he muttered about how she insulted his Slytherin self.

Crookshanks got up from his place and curled himself on Hermione's lap, meowing, asking her to pet him. His purr filled the silence when she obliged. He moved his tail in the air, wanting to change the conversation and purred happily when the conversation became lighter.

When the clock chimed close to midnight, Malfoy excused himself to go back to his faculty apartment. Neither of them stayed past midnight in each other's apartment. A tradition they carried forward from 8th year.

"You think I'm very likeable?" she asked, one eyebrow quirked and a teasing smile on her lips, "Did you give me a compliment Malfoy?"

She turned her body so she could face the doorway behind the couch to face him.

A playful smirk spread on his lips, "Did I?"

"Did you?"

Hermione's eyes lighted up with humorous fun as she watched him fasten the robe, his gaze never leaving hers.

"I didn't realise you would feel honoured with such a simple comment."

A bubble of laughter erupted from her throat and she swung her head back, her messy bun dropping lower to her shoulder. She was acting as tipsy as Neville, barely able to maintain the conversation but she felt so light.

She knew it wasn't because of the alcohol.

"You should be honoured that you can make me laugh Malfoy." She replied; her cheeks flushed red from laughing and the hair tie falling silently behind the couch.

He responded by quirking one of his eyebrows and plastering a lopsided smile on his lips.

"Thank you Malfoy," Hermione spoke up, after a moment of silence.

"For making you tipsy?" he asked, amusement clearly evident in his voice, "Well, it's not an honour Granger."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes in response, "I'm not talking about that, you daft. I'm talking about the conversations. It helps."

"It's not one-way Granger."

It was thirty minutes past midnight and Hermione laid on the bed, sleep heavy on her eyelids.

It was a good night. Spending time with friends, drinking, talking, playing with your pet cat. It was predictable, it was slow, it was normal. Normal.

Sighing happily, she rolled over to her side on the bed. She pulled the drawer open and took out a rectangular piece of folded paper, almost the size of her hand. The paper was thick, pure white and the edges still crisp, her magic keeping it from getting ruined.

Hermione ran her fingers across the fold of the paper, holding it close and taking in the sweet smell, vaguely similar to flowers. She opened the letter, the words handwritten. The words she already memorised years ago. She held the paper horizontally, the shorter part of the paper between her fingers.

Thank you for helping me during such a hard time even if you had no reason to do so. I appreciate what you've done.

If I had been wiser when we were younger, I would have asked for your friendship.

I'm sorry for everything.

Hermione traced the words, written in black ink and cursive, with her finger. Warmth spread across her chest with each passing word. She folded the parchment and looked at the drawing of purple hyacinth on the cover.

Purple hyacinth. Please forgive me.

She wanted to tell him. She wanted to tell him the moment their eyes met months ago that she knew he had sent the letter, even if no names were written on it. She wanted to tell him that the piece of paper kept her grounded throughout the years.

That she forgave him.

Author's note

How was it?

I'm still very confused about the approximate number of words that each chapter should have but I have a feeling that I may make it longer. But I'm trying to keep it within this length.

Considering the characters: they definitely will have changes throughout the years. I took this as an opportunity to calm down Hermione's temper because it might be a desirable quality needed for both her professions. I also plummeted Draco's arrogancy but I feel like he didn't have any after the war.

I try to align everything with the original work such as Hannah and Neville being together. But I also took a varied amount of liberties for the sake of the story. One such thing was Lucius Malfoy going to Azkaban - I felt that if he didn't, Draco's wouldn't have become a professor in the first place.