My version of a Dramione story based loosely off the song by Taylor Swift

Also, special shoutout to Austwigirl for reading thru this and making sure it wasn't abysmal.

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Hermione took a deep breath as she looked in the mirror and took notice of the chestnut curls that she recently had cut to land right at her shoulders. She loved the new look. She recently discovered a simple charm that made the curls more sleek than frizzy and she couldn't help but smile at the transformation. But then she remembered that he never liked it when she wore her hair down and her mood dampened. She walked away from the mirror and her thoughts shifted when she remembered she left her book, Uncursing the Cursed, open on her bed. As she slowly put in her bookmark to mark the page she remembered another thing they didn't have in common, he always said he didn't like her books. Well, I do, she thought, and she was done letting his opinions matter at all, she then shut the book with a snap and placed it in her bag and headed out the door for work.

Since it was a Wednesday, she didn't have any of the meetings she usually had throughout the week and she was able to take a longer lunch. With that thought she was instantly filled with the relief of getting to have some time to herself for a bit. As she was walking through the main level of the ministry, she swore that she saw a flash of red hair leaving through one of the floo fireplaces, and she had never felt so grateful for her newly founded café right around the corner. It had been especially warm outside recently and a few weeks ago she had decided to take a walk during her lunch to really enjoy the sun. It was then that she stumbled upon The Hideout, and yes, she realized the irony. This place was creating a literal hideout for her. In the past, she was always going to an overly crowded and slightly grimy pub for lunch because that was what he liked, so it was almost freeing to find her own place that she could be comfortable in. As she walked through the front door a slight jingle went off above her, but just as she remembered, this place was perfect, and no one even lifted their head. She didn't spend too much time looking around, mainly just to make sure the spot she had come to call hers was available. It was in the far-left corner of the shop, right by the window. There in the corner was a simple pair of burnt orange velvet armchairs with a round wooden table in between, she purposefully chose the chair that faced the window because it made her feel like she was the only one in the room but still getting the luxury of watching people pass by outside. As she sat down, a girl, probably a few years younger than her, asked if she would like anything. She ordered a tea with cream and sugar and took out her book, ready to escape the world for a bit.

She had already finished about half of her tea and was fully immersed in her book when she sensed someone sitting down in the chair across from her. For a moment she felt a bit annoyed at the intrusion, surely there were other places they could sit, but she raised her head to at least give a small smile to show that she didn't mind. Her smile quickly turned into a sharp intake of breath at the sight of who was sitting across from her. He chuckled at her reaction, and she started to squint her eyes to make sure it was who she thought it was. Pale blonde hair, cool grey eyes, looking way too fit for his own good.

"Long time Granger, how have you been?" And then he smiled. Merlin, did he always have such a good smile?

"Malfoy? Is that really you?" She was honestly so shocked to see him; she couldn't think of a better response. She could tell her mouth had been gaping open longer than was customary, so she quickly continued, "It really has been a while; it's been what three –

"Four, it's been four years actually." He said with such sincerity, she was slightly taken aback. Then he fidgeted a bit in his seat, faintly looking uncomfortable as he added, "since my trial."

Ah, that was right, that was the last time she saw him. She gave him a small smile to show that she remembered, not quite sure what to reply, but it seemed that it didn't matter because he had more that he wanted to say.

He raised his arm to scratch behind his neck as he struggled to get out his next thought, "I never got to thank you for your testimony, I still don't fully understand why you did it, Merlin knows you never owed me anything." She slowly took her eyes off his hand behind his head and allowed them to meet his - completely baffled by the man before her. He continued, "but I appreciated it... six months on house arrest was…" at this he took a breath and cleared his throat, "just thank you, is what I've meant to tell you these past four years, but I don't really get out much so I haven't run into you it seems."

Six months on house arrest was all he had been sentenced for, and a decent sentence it was. His trial had been quick and to the point since he had been considered an underage wizard during most of his charges. Harry had given testimony on the fact that Draco didn't, nor was he going to, kill Dumbledore that night on the Astronomy tower, and he also testified to the fact that he didn't give the trio up that night in Malfoy Manor. But he was right, there was no reason for her to give testimony, it was a known fact that they were not friends at Hogwarts, less than friends, he made her life hell most days. But she had always been the observant type, and she noticed him that fateful day at Hogwarts, she noticed him switch sides, fighting for good. Granted, she didn't notice this until after he had been saved by the Fiendfyre, but sometimes it takes a near death experience for someone to realize what a real prat they're being.

"It was nothing, honestly," she told him as she waved his comment off, acting like it hadn't just been the biggest surprise to hear something that sincere leave his lips. He nodded his head once, in signal that what he wanted to say was over and a slow smirk started to form on his lips.

"Well, now that that uncomfortable conversation is out of the way, tell me, what did the smartest witch of her age, The Hermione Granger decide to do with her life?"

Hermione couldn't help but groan at the ridiculous nickname, and she gave him a heavy eye roll at the condescending tone in which he had used.

"Ha. Ha. I'll have you know this smart witch here is an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries, so who's laughing now?" She tried saying with as much haughtiness she could muster without breaking out of character. She could see his eyes slightly enlarge and the corner of his lip started to twitch and for a second she thought he wasn't going to crack either, but then he let out a deep chuckle that did something unexpected to her breathing.

"You're joking? You're actually joking Granger, there's no way you're an Unspeakable. A little know it all like yourself? Not allowed to tell everyone you meet anything and everything about what you do all day? Impossible." He said to her as he slowly wiped a small tear away from his eye from laughing too hard.

"Well it's true, and I would never let slip any of the mysteries secrets!" She said, slightly outraged at what he had just implied. But then she saw the flicker of mischief in his eye and realized he was having a go at her. Well, she couldn't let that slide by. "And what do you do Malfoy, huh? For all I know, you could be a ferret tamer, I hear you have a lot of experience with them." She said, with a smirk of her own. Unfortunately, her comment did not seem to have the desired effect she was going for. He let out another soft chuckle at her quip, and slowly leaned forward on the table between them and rested his chin on his hands before speaking.

"I actually just finished up my Healer training a few weeks ago and started working at St. Mungos" he raised his hands and shoulders with an innocent look on his face, "but what's a Healer compared to an Unspeakable, I mean I just try to save lives each day." As much as she tried, she couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips. This in turn produced another wonderful smile from him and she didn't want it to go away. But he must have heard her thoughts because he looked at his watch and frowned. "Sorry Granger, looks like I've got to run" as he started to stand up, he looked her in the eyes one last time and said, "it was really good to see you again." Before she could form a response, he had turned and left the café.

She leaned back into the velvet chair and tried to process what had just happened. Had she just had a nice time with Draco Malfoy? Had she really caused him to laugh on more than one occasion? She must be losing it, she told herself as she shook her head. But as she stared at the empty matching chair across from her, she couldn't help but feel saddened by his absence. At that moment, she also looked down at her watch to see the time and almost screeched in surprise. Yes, that conversation with Malfoy had definitely got away from her, so much so that she was going to be late getting back to work.

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A week later, as Hermione walked into the café, she was silently cursing the rain that had been pounding against her umbrella the entire walk over. It had been a more stressful week than usual at the Ministry and having her shoes soaked in water was not how she envisioned her peaceful lunch starting out. As she entered the café, she quickly took a seat in her usual chair, and ordered her tea. She then glanced around to make sure no one was watching her, as this was a muggle establishment, and she discreetly uttered a quick wandless drying spell on her shoes.

"Don't think I didn't just see that Granger."

At the abrupt sound of his voice and presence, Hermione swore under her breath. She quickly turned her head to look at his grinning face and couldn't believe she didn't notice he was in the café when she first came in.

"Wandless magic huh? Can't say I'm not impressed, I guess you were number one in our class for a reason."

"Ah yes, I seem to remember you always coming in a little bit behind me, being second in your class is still an accomplishment Malfoy." She told him with a smug grin on her face.

Once again, his reaction threw her for a loop, he let out a laugh so loud and genuine that it caused those around them to turn their heads at the commotion. She was finding it quite baffling that he found her so funny, Ron surely never did. She swiftly shook her head to rid his name from her thoughts and came back to what was happening around her. She took note that Malfoy had decided to sit down in the chair next to her, just as he had done last week.

"Since we are on the topic of how inhumanely smart you are, how many O's did you end up getting on your Newts…" Malfoy so innocently asked her.

Hermione narrowed her eyes a fraction, quite sure that he had an ulterior motive to asking. "I'll only tell you mine if you tell me yours."

If he was surprised by her response it didn't show on his face, instead his trademark smirk began to form as he proudly told her, "I got five O's, of course, and one Exceeds Expectations in –

"Ah, let me guess…" At Hermione's interruption Malfoy seemed more interested than annoyed so she continued, "Herbology? You never did pay attention much in that class." She finished with a satisfied smirk, convinced she had him pegged.

"Actually no, I got an O in Herbology." He told her with an even more satisfied smirk, which caused hers to promptly slide away. "It would be near impossible to not get an O, what with growing up around the gardens and greenhouses we have at Malfoy Manor, hence why I never felt the need to pay much attention in that class." He told her with a wink, which caused a delicious shiver to run up her back.

"Well then, what is the subject that caused you to get less than perfect results?" She asked, admitting to herself that maybe he wasn't as easy to read as she had thought.

At her probing question she could have sworn she saw him tense a bit, but by the time she had blinked he had slipped back into pure confidence. "It was actually Defense Against The Dark Arts, pity really, it had been one of my best classes leading up to the…" at this he paused then continued, "…the war, but it seems afterwards, it just wasn't a priority to me anymore." He finished softly.

Hermione was honestly shocked. Defense Against the Dark Arts was the subject he got an E in? Never in her wildest dreams would she have guessed that, but then again, he had been surprising her rather a lot lately.

"Don't harp on it too much Malfoy, turns out I couldn't manage an O in that subject either…" Shocked at herself for being so transparent she looked to see his reaction, Draco had scrunched his eyebrows up in confusion, clearly caught off guard by the information.

"You got an E in DADA? You helped take down the Dark Lord, and didn't you help Potter with that fighting army in fifth year?" She snickered to herself, it was clear he was trying to goad her.

"Yes, well, that's a common misconception, that was all Harry, it was where he excelled." Desperate to move away from the real reason she wasn't great at the subject she slid back to what would bring her confidence back. "But I did get O's in all my other subjects which rounded me out to six O's altogether…I believe that's one more than you." She finished, smiling brightly. But a second later she was inwardly cringing at how arrogant she sounded. Memories flashed before her of all the times Ron would tell her to stop talking about her intellect, and constantly being told that no guy liked feeling outdone. She instantly winced at the memory and tried to say something to salvage what she had said but it seemed too late, he had already started to respond to her. And yet again, his reaction surprised her.

He had started to laugh and shook his head from side to side as if he just couldn't believe what she had said. "You are something else Granger, you know that?" He then looked up at her with a look she couldn't quite place. "You know, you are partly the reason I tried so hard on my NEWTS. With everyone else back at Hogwarts, and me on house arrest, it was hard to find any kind of desire to finish my studies, but then I remembered you, and I told myself I'd be damned if I ever had to have this conversation with you and not come out on top."

Hermione couldn't believe what she had heard, mainly the part where Malfoy wasn't mad that she had outscored him, he seemed…impressed.

"Of course, I should have known that no matter how hard I tried; I still wouldn't beat you. But hey, at least I can say I tried." He told her with a devilish smile.

It seemed it was Hermione's turn to be surprised at how much time had passed. She looked down at her watch and was disappointed to see what time it was. "Looks like I'm going to be late getting back if I don't leave." She looked up at Malfoy apologetically.

At the mention of her leaving, he quickly stood up and offered his hand out to help her up. "Do you come here every Wednesday during your lunch break?" He asked. She could tell he had inwardly cringed at how obvious he was being, but she decided to give him a break for once.

"I do actually, this is the one day a week I get a longer break than normal, so I like to spend it here, why?"

"Well, I was hoping I would see you again next Wednesday? Same time? Same spot?" He asked her with a lilt in his voice.

A smile graced her lips as she ducked her head in an attempt to hide her blushed cheeks.

"I'd like that." She told him, then before she could second guess herself, she launched herself back out into the rain and back to work.

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The week had flown by and yet had been the slowest week Hermione had ever experienced. She had been equal parts excited and equal parts nervous. She constantly told herself that she'd already spent two Wednesdays with him in that café, this time wouldn't be any different, but then she would remember those times had been happenstance, not scheduled dates, and the nerves would return all over again.

She walked in expecting him to be late, but as she looked around, she saw him, and she smiled as he stood up. Butterflies erupted inside of her as she walked over to him and sat down. He must have ordered her tea right before she got there, because as soon as she sat down, it was being placed before her.

"Cream and sugar, right?" He asked her, with a hopeful expression on his face.

Hermione blinked in surprise, "Yeah…how'd you know? She said to him, but what she had really been thinking was, he has no idea how nice that is.

"I asked Lydia if she remembered what you always got…so I can't take all of the credit." He responded, and as he spoke he gave the waitress a perfect smile, and Hermione felt a small pang of jealousy at the attention. She instantly chastised herself, Ron always had a wavering eye, but that didn't mean every guy did.

Not even a second later his full attention was back on her.

He had taken a sip of his tea and then a small smirk formed as he said, "You'll never guess who I ran into the other day."

There were probably a hundred different people he could have run into that they both knew, but ironically, she knew exactly who it had been. Instead of sounding like a know-it-all, she simply put on a puzzled look and said, "I don't know, who?"

"Really, you're not even going to guess? That's not like you." He said as he gave her an amused look.

Hermione rolled her eyes, fine, if that's the Hermione he wanted then that's who he would get.

"You're right, I would never pass up the opportunity on answering a question right." She told him with a smirk of her own, "I happen to know exactly who you ran into; Harry said he was very surprised by the entire interaction."

The glee that lit up his features was intoxicating as he sniggered to her correct answer. "10 points to Gryffindor then. But that does mean the two of you talked about me, so who's the real victor here?"

She couldn't help but laugh out loud at his assumption, and honestly, he wasn't far off.

Malfoy continued, "Well, I don't know what he told you, but It was unusually amicable between us. It had been just as long since I'd seen him as you, I half expected him to jinx me right then and there" He then shifted in his chair a bit and coughed into his hand before continuing, "I had actually wanted to bring you up…and that I'd seen you a few times lately..."

Hermione could tell he was slightly nervous as he was talking, and she was surprised at how much she liked it. Malfoy always seemed so confident and unfazed; it was nice to know she affected him this way.

"Anyway, I didn't know if you would want me telling your close friends that you've spent time with me." He tried to give her a smile, but it looked more like a grimace to her and her heart ached that he thought she would be embarrassed of him.

"He didn't know anything when he ran into you, but he does now, so I hope that's okay." She told him, accompanied with a smile that she hoped would make things more clear to him.

At her words, a satisfied expression took over his features and with a smile he replied, "of course, why wouldn't it be? At least, I hope that implies you only told him good things about me?" The smile he gave her caused heat to travel up her cheeks and it was obvious to everyone what she had told Harry about him.

Trying to save face she slyly responded, "you say that now, and I recall a few minutes ago how delighted you were that Harry was agreeable with you…well he did say for me to tell you if you do anything to hurt me he will take it upon himself to hunt you down and use some curses he learned at Hogwarts."

At her words she saw him instinctively rub his abdomen, as if in recollection of the time Harry attacked him with the Sectumsempra curse. She felt a twinge of uneasiness at causing him to recall that wretched year.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to –

He nonchalantly waved her off, "Don't worry about it, I know he means well. Any other friends I should be worried about?"

She knew almost immediately who he was implying, and for a second she almost brought him up, but for the first time, she decided that what was past was past.

"No, just Harry, maybe Ginny…she's infamous for her bat bogey hex."

She could tell that he had noticed she didn't bring up Ron's name, but he didn't push it and he didn't know how nice that is.

As they continue to talk about anything and everything, Hermione can't help the smile that's been permanently etched on her face the past hour. When she first found this café, she never would have imagined what would come of it. She had been spending the last eight months thinking all love ever did was break, burn and end. But on a Wednesday in a café, she watched it begin again.