~one~

The newly opened 'Warlocks' pub was alive with chatter and music as it gradually filled up with witches and wizards enjoying a Friday evening night out in Diagon Alley. It was a modern and lively venue, in stark contrast to the usual, more traditional hostelries to be found locally, and had already attracted a young and vibrant clientele in the few weeks it had been in business.

Draco Malfoy was sitting in a cosily lit corner with two of his friends, relaxing after a strenuous day at his healer training placement. He had been having a particularly rough time of it lately. His healer mentor had taken an instant dislike to him and had yet to speak to Draco with any form of pleasantry or mutual respect. He was always giving Draco the shittiest of jobs - sometimes quite literally. This treatment was something that Draco had become quite accustomed to, given his well-documented history during the war. Nevertheless, he was determined to pursue his healer training as a means of making some small amends to wizarding society and to prove himself as so much more than the 'boy death eater' of his past.

After his long and gruelling day, Draco had immediately owled his old friends Blaise and Nott. He was keen to arrange a quick drink on his way home, rather than heading straight back to his student digs that he shared with a fellow trainee healer. St Mungo's provided on site accommodation for its trainees in order to free up their floo access for emergencies, and the site maintained its strict anti-apparition wards as a safety measure. It was far more convenient for the trainees to remain on site where they could access the labs and the hospital's immense, specialist library, which Draco did on most days - even days off and weekends.

More and more people were squeezing into the pub, and Draco received his fair share of glares and whispering glances as people quickly clocked the familiar blond haired figure in the corner. It was a fact that many people felt that he and his family had got off far too lightly in the trials that followed the second wizarding war, and their ire and bitterness was always very plain to see. Despite the Golden Trio having spoken up on his behalf during the trials, a fact that he had yet to quite get over, Draco had suffered a lot at the hands of 'have - a - go' vigilantes. He had frequently found himself black and blue from alleyway beatings on the occasions that he dared to venture out in the months after the war.

Because of this, he had been greatly relieved when he was allowed to return to Hogwarts to complete his eighth year of education. It gave him a means of escaping both the beatings and the media scrutiny that also followed him and his family around. He had of course then faced the wrath of the student population at Hogwarts, but had felt much safer and he was grateful for the haven that the castle offered him, especially considering that many, including himself, felt that he hardly deserved it.

In their secluded corner, Blaise had been bragging for the past five minutes about his most recent conquest with a young, blonde haired witch who he had met at work. Of course he had no intention of seeing her again, having got her to drop her knickers on their first date. Theo on the other hand, had just announced that he and Tracey Davis had been dating, having bumped into each other in Diagon Alley a few weeks earlier.

"Davis? From school?" Draco enquired, recalling their fellow Slytherin housemate.

"Yeah. She's a great girl," Theo replied, taking a swig of his beer. "I don't know why I didn't really notice her when we were at school."

"Probably because she was a flat chested bean-pole?" Blaise suggested with a bored expression.

"Hey! "came the offended reply. "That may be my future girlfriend, you numpty!"

Blaise gave another bored sneer and scanned the room for his next potential hook-up.

"So… what about you, Malfoy?" he drawled, not taking his eyes off the crowds. "You had any action lately?"

Draco unfortunately, had not been having any success. Girls mostly remained wary of him, and those that didn't were usually vacuous gold diggers. On occasion, Draco had taken advantage of their eagerness to secure himself a one night stand here and there, but he had foud that such encounters simply left him feeling hollow and empty.

"No," came Draco's flat response.

"It's been a while mate, hasn't it?" asked Nott with interest.

Draco took a deep breath in through his nose before reluctantly admitting that it had in fact been several months.

"Months?" repeated Blaise, suddenly dragging his eyes away from the rear of a scantily clad red head and staring at Draco with horror. "Months? Shit-a-brick Malfoy, I think my dick would've dropped off by now from all the wanking I'd have been doing making up for going months without any!"

"Thanks for that." Draco replied, reaching for his beer with a roll of his eyes.

"Come on mate," Theo chimed in. "Let's see if we can fix you up tonight. This place is just heaving with…"

"Willing and eager pussy?" Blaise interjected.

Theo and Draco looked at their dark, Italian friend to see that he had once again zoned out and was slowly sliding out of his seat and making his way through the crowds in the direction of his prey. They both shook their heads in unison before continuing their conversation.

"Come on, Draco. What about her?" he said, gesturing with his glass towards a small, mousey looking girl with her group of friends, sipping away at her drink.

"No."

"Okay…. how about … her?" came Theo's insistent suggestion. He had pointed out a tall, dark - haired witch, who appeared to be significantly older than them, and possibly even older than his mother.

"Are you mental?" came Draco's incredulous reply.

"Okay, okay. Such a picky one aren't you? So…. what about…. her?"

Theo nodded towards the bar which had now become visible since a group of lads all wearing matching Quidditch shirts had left. There was a petite, elegantly dressed witch standing at the bar, waiting to be served. She had her back to them, but Draco guessed she was younger than the old hag Theo had just picked out from him from the modern style of robes she was wearing.

She wore a sheer blouse with a classic polka dot pattern, offering just a hint at a black lacy bra beneath. The smooth knee length pencil skirt that she was wearing hugged her curves perfectly, and she wore elegant black patent heels that accentuated her shapely legs. There was a hint of muggle fashion about her robes that made her stand out from the crowds of typically dressed women in the room. Her hair was cascading in soft, large brown curls down her back.

Draco swallowed thickly. She was very pleasing to the eye and he had to admit that he had felt ready to start trying to find some female company again recently.

"Well she's definitely got your attention," Theo remarked as he took in his friend's intense study of the girl at the bar.

"Go on, mate. Give it a try. You've still got your aristocratic charms to pull on haven't you?"

Draco, pursed his lips in one final gesture of consideration before whispering "Fuck it" and walking quietly over her side at the bar. The bartender was just setting down a large glass of wine in front of her.

"I'll get that, he offered, taking out his wallet.

The brunette turned to look at him with surprise. Upon meeting her wide, amber eyes, Draco nearly dropped his wallet into her drink. It was none other than Hermione Granger, one third of the Golden trio (well the most noteworthy member in Draco's opinion). The girl he had bullied incessantly in school, the girl who he had seen tortured by his rabid aunt on his parents' drawing room floor, and the girl who had spoken out in his favour during the trials, saving him from a stint in Azkaban prison.

He had not seen her since they left school at the end of their eighth year, in which they had struck up something of akin to a friendship, having been paired together in Potions for their final assessment. She certainly looked different. The skinny, pale, post- war aura that so many of the eighth year students had carried during that year at school had gone, along with the dark circles under her eyes. She looked glowing and healthy and her unmistakable bushy hair had been tamed into a vision of smooth perfection.

Blinking momentarily to take in what had happened, Draco quickly realised the awkwardness of the situation and schooled his surprised expression into one of confidence.

"Oh! Malfoy!" Granger greeted him with a warm, if not slightly perplexed smile.

Creating an impression that he had known it was her all along Draco smiled in return.

"Granger. Hope you don't mind, I thought I could buy an old school friend a drink?"

Hermione looked at him with a smirk.

"Old school friend?" she giggled. "Well, yes I suppose we were friends in the end weren't we? "

"Absolutely. Now let me get this for you."

Draco ordered himself a beer, and the pair quickly struck up a relaxed and animated conversation. Draco pulled a pair of barstools over and they quickly settled down in their new found spot. Draco was delighted to realise that she already knew that he was undergoing his healer training and she seemed genuinely interested in how he was getting on with it. He felt no shame at all in opening up to her about how difficult he was finding it, and surprised himself at how he opened up to her so easily about his passion for healing.

The conversation naturally flowed into Hermione sharing her news and her job in the Muggle Relations Department at the ministry. She had been working tirelessly to overcome the barriers that had been created between the magical and the muggle worlds as a result of the war, supporting half-blood families who had suffered during the troubles.

Draco realised that in the short time that they had spent at the bar, he had already become quite captivated by Granger. He wasn't sure if he dared to dream that something more might develop from this encounter, especially given their history and the outrage it would provoke in wizarding society. Did he dare to think that she might deign to consider spending more time with him, given those circumstances?

Draco chanced a glance over at Blaise and Theo. They would surely have something to say about the fact that he had just gone gallivanting over to Granger of all people, looking for female company. Blaise, however, was paying no attention to him whatsoever, having ensnared the redhead who was now sitting beside him, giggling inanely as he whispered sweet nothings in her ear. Theo, on the other hand, had a massive grin plastered across his face and was waggling his eyebrows suggestively. His eyes were glued to Draco whilst eating a packet of crisps, shoving them into his mouth like someone at the cinema watching an epic movie.

Draco quickly made up his mind that if he was going to pursue this further, then this was not the best place to do it.

"Granger… do you fancy going somewhere else for another drink? Somewhere a bit quieter?"

She placed her drink down softly and looked up at him with a sympathetic smile.

"Oh... Malfoy I'm so sorry" she stated apologetically. "I… I'm meeting someone actually."

Draco once again slipped his mask of indifference on to hide his disappointment.

"I just got here rather early, with coming straight from work. I'm going on a date, you see."

"Oh, he's here now!" she said as she got down from her bar stool. She gestured with her eyes over to the doorway, where the stocky figure of Justin Finch-Fletchley had just entered. Draco's heart felt like it had sunk into his dragon-hide boots.

Justin gave Hermione a wide grin as he approached, kissing her on both cheeks before obviously looking her over like a piece of meat.

"You… look dazzling," he drawled before noticing Draco sat on the stool nearby.

"Oh? Malfoy! Been entertaining my date for me have you? That's very noble of you, but you can run along now."

Draco gave a wan smile and stood slowly from his stool, picking up his drink to take along.

"Oh, and be a good sport and leave me some beers for when I get home will you? Don't go drinking them all again, huh?" Justin continued rather loudly, before turning to Hermione. "He has a habit of helping himself to my stuff, the cheeky swine!"

Hermione looked questioningly at Draco.

Draco was muttering under his breath, "It was one time Justin..."

"Wait, didn't he tell you?" Justin interrupted as he clocked Hermione's puzzled expression. "We got paired up to share student digs together. We're flatmates!" he announced clapping Draco on the back with a broad fake smile decorating his overly large chin.

Draco gave a wide, tight lipped smile in return, but his eyes belied the truth of his feelings. He just couldn't believe his misfortune.

"Well, I'd better leave you to it." he said resignedly, moving around the couple slowly.

"Yes do" came Justin's fast reply, before he leaned in covertly to whisper to Draco as Hermione was busy retrieving her coat.

"And if I were you, I'd throw up a silencing charm before you go to bed tonight. I've got a feeling I might get lucky with this one" he added with a smug wink, before offering Hermione his arm and returning to a more gentlemanly façade.

"Shall we?"

Hermione took his arm and gave Draco a final smile.

"Well, goodnight Draco. And thanks for the drink. It was good catching up."

"It was nothing" he replied quietly as he watched the couple leave together. As the pub door swung to a close, Draco turned back towards the cosy corner where his night had started, shuffling reluctantly back over to his friends.

When he got there he was greeted with the sight of Blaise snogging, no, eating the face of his newly acquired red-headed acquaintance. Theo meanwhile, was sitting with his elbows resting on the table, head in hands, shaking his head incredulously at his friends' failed attempt.

"Don't. Say. A word.'" Draco stated pointedly, as he sat heavily onto the couch beside Theo, draining his bottle in an attempt to drown his embarrassment.