Chapter 4

Her owl must have been appropriate enough because Malfoy responded the next day and then they spent the rest of the work week corresponding in that manner. Back and forth, several times a day on Wednesday and Thursday, their letters grew increasingly flirtatious and Hermione found herself waiting for each one with a giddy anticipation that had her acting more like a schoolgirl than she ever had before, even when she'd actually been one.

They were both busy with work and she was helping Harry finish putting the details of Albus' birthday party together, so the plan to go to dinner evolved into a proposed trip to the park with a picnic on Sunday instead. Hermione was thrilled because that meant she would be able to see Scorpius again too, and was eagerly anticipating the outing. She was also trying not to get her hopes up about Malfoy's intentions.

But then he arrived unexpectedly at her office in the ministry at lunchtime on Friday. He appeared seemingly from nowhere. She just looked up from her work and he was leaning idly against her door frame with a smile on his face.

At first glance he simply looked happy and relaxed. But then she noticed the way his stormy eyes were focused on her and saw a much more intense emotion lurking beneath the surface. She got the impression that he'd been standing there studying her for awhile, and she suddenly felt exposed. It was not an altogether unpleasant feeling though, to be the object of his scrutiny. The man ran one of the largest corporations in the wizarding world. He was successful, powerful, and handsome; but he was standing there looking at her like there wasn't anything in the world he'd rather do than watch her all day. No, not unpleasant at all, in fact it was altogether rather heady.

"It's done," he stated when he realized he had her attention. "The parchment is all signed. I am officially no longer married," he continued as he strode into the office proper.

"Congratulations doesn't seem like quite the right sentiment," she responded wryly.

"Congratulations works." He made himself comfortable in one of her guest's chairs, propped his feet up on her desk, and smirked at her.

"Make yourself at home," she said sardonically, though she was really struggling to maintain her stern exterior. She was very pleased to see him. "How did you get past my assistant?" She asked.

He flashed her a smile. "I can be very charming, Granger."

Yes, she knew. Her fresh-out-of-Hogwarts assistant hadn't stood a chance against a determined Malfoy. The girl was probably still outside recovering.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to take you to lunch to celebrate," he drawled.

"Doesn't it seem a little bit wrong to be celebrating your divorce?"

"Not at all," he said lightly, leaning forward to snatch a paperweight off her desk and tossing it into the air.

Here was the smug, self-assured aristocrat she'd expected all along. Strangely, it didn't bother her now that she knew that there was a lot more lurking beneath that exterior. And frankly, he had a lot of good reasons to be so confident. Now she just found it... well, sexy.

Still, he'd just gotten divorced. Wasn't he the least bit upset? She didn't feel comfortable pursuing that topic, but it was certainly too soon for them to be seen together in public. It wouldn't be good for either of their reputations, and given each of their positions in society, they were sure to be noticed if they had a meal together.

"Assuming I don't already have plans, where do you propose we go to lunch that we won't be gawked at the whole time?" She challenged.

He stopped tossing her paper weight.

"Didn't think of that, did you?" She teased, proud that she'd thrown him off kilter.

"I may have overlooked a few minor details in my excitement," he admitted, to her delight.

Excitement? Over finalizing the divorce? Or could it be excitement to see her? He had just been through a major life event and the first thing he had done when it was over was seek her out. She bit her lip to suppress the huge grin threatening to overtake her face. But did she have a right to feel this way? Maybe it was dangerous, but she didn't want to tell him 'no.'

"We could go to a muggle restaurant," she suggested slyly.

He narrowed his eyes. "Granger, are you implying that you think I wouldn't be willing to go to a muggle establishment?" He asked in a quiet, dangerous voice.

She cocked an eyebrow challengingly.

"Let's go," he said, virtually springing out of the chair.

She giggled.

"Hold on, Malfoy, you've got to let me transfigure your robes. You'll stick out like a sore thumb dressed like that."

He looked at her warily.

"You don't trust me?" She sing-songed. Merlin this was fun.

He pursed his lips and huffed, then he held his arms out away from his sides.

"Do your worst," he dared.

She decided not to tease him and quickly changed his sharp charcoal robes into an equally sharp charcoal suit.

"How do you feel about French food?" She asked as she put the finishing touches on his tie, trying not to stare at how good he looked in the more form fitting muggle clothing.

"Love it," he answered immediately.

"Then I know just the place."

She transfigured her own robes into a simple blouse and pencil skirt, enjoying his appreciative glance at the figure hugging outfit. Then she led him to an apparition point, satisfied to see that most people were at lunch and not around to wonder what Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger were doing together. He let her take his arm and whisk them away without question or protest. They reappeared at a second apparition point that Hermione was familiar with because it was near her parents' home.

"It's just a few blocks this way," she explained, pointing in the direction she knew the restaurant to be.

He nodded. She didn't release his arm, nor did he attempt to step away from her, and they strolled up the street together in that fashion. When they entered the restaurant she was completely befuddled to see him slip the hostess a ten pound note to seat them in an intimate corner booth rather than a table in the middle of the bistro. She was almost as surprised when he slid into the same side of the booth as she did. Though she wasn't upset by the slight invasion of her space.

"How do you have muggle money?" She whispered, when the girl had left them with their menus.

"You can exchange for it in Gringotts, surely you know that," he said, settling close enough to her that their thighs were pressed together, and casually placing an arm on top of the bench behind her shoulders.

"Well yes, of course, I guess the better question is why do you have it?" She asked, a little frazzled, but not displeased by his rather forward actions.

"Granger, there may have been many deficiencies in my upbringing, but my parents managed to assure that I was taught impeccable manners. There is no way I was going to allow a lady to pay for a meal," he explained smoothly.

"But how did you know you would need it? Did you guess I would bring you to a muggle restaurant?" She insisted, though she continued to whisper because this conversation would be difficult to explain if it was overheard.

"Well no, but since we've been owling I assumed we'd end up in the muggle world sooner or later, and I like to be prepared."

She just stared at him, astounded that he was so willing to spend time with her, in the muggle world nonetheless, and had actually been planning for it. It seemed a rather revealing confession. He was serious about this friendship, or whatever it was. They had only been owling for a few days. She was flattered. But then she realized that she was staring and quickly looked away, taking a sip of water from one of the glasses on the table in an attempt to hide her discomfort. He chuckled knowingly.

"Are you sure you're okay? About, you know, the divorce. I know that you weren't happy with her, but it's still a big deal."

"I haven't given it a thought since I walked into your office." She felt her eyes widen. "I know that for most people it's a big deal but it changes very little for me. We haven't lived together in months and I've known this was coming- not just coming, but what I wanted- for a long time. I do hate that Scorpius doesn't have two loving, married parents. But staying with Astoria was never going to accomplish that. So," he shrugged, "I'm choosing to celebrate this as an opportunity to make life better for us both."

That was both terribly sad, and a relief.

"You'll celebrate with me, won't you Granger?" He interrupted her thoughts and she realized she'd been silently staring at the table.

She whipped her head around to look at him to find that he was staring at her. She just nodded vigorously, taking a deep breath and gathering herself when something caught her eye. She turned to see what it was. "Oh damn it," she cursed softly as she spotted two familiar figures being led into the restaurant by the hostess. "I'm so sorry, Malfoy, I brought you here so that we wouldn't get stared at and now you're going to be interrogated instead."

"What are you talking about?" He asked, sounding completely unconcerned.

"Don't look now, but there are two women being seated at your two o'clock. I went to primary school with both of them and my parents are very close friends with the blonde's family. As soon as they spot us they'll be over to find out what somebody like you is doing here with somebody like me," she begrudgingly explained.

He just stared at her, a slight crease appearing between his brows. "You've lost me Granger. In our world I would know what you mean- the war heroine and the Death Eater and all that- but they don't know about the war here, do they? Anyway, if I can handle Potter, of all people, I think I can handle any other protective friends."

Hermione chuckled bitterly at his misunderstanding of the situation. "They won't be interrogating you to determine if you're good enough, but to try and figure out why a good looking and obviously wealthy man like yourself would want to be seen with me," she said, more resentfully than she would have liked.

He looked more confused than before and she wondered how she should explain. They were some of her harshest memories: the way Courtney Bronson-the blonde in question- had treated her. Draco's behavior towards her had been worse in the past, but at least he had not been the child of her parents' closest friends.

Richard and Helen Granger had waited until they had established a practice and were fully settled in their lives before trying for a child. And they didn't succeed in getting pregnant for years. They watched their best friends- the Bronsons- bring home one healthy baby boy and then another. When Helen finally found out she was pregnant just before Nancy Bronson announced her third pregnancy, they were all thrilled. When it was determined they were both to have girls the couples were over the moon. The babies seemed destined to grow up together, closer even than best friends, more like sisters. But it was not to be.

Even as a baby Hermione had kept to herself. She learned to read early and buried herself in her books. Then strange things began to happen around her; children and adults alike were frightened of her, they avoided dealing with her- though some of the braver children picked on her. She withdrew further and further into herself with each passing year.

By contrast, Courtney was an outgoing, vivacious child who was doted on by parents, peers, and teachers alike. Hermione couldn't remember a time when she hadn't been envious of the girl. With her straight shiny hair, even teeth, and pretty features, her easy ability to connect with others, and a nice normal name like 'Courtney,' she was everything Hermione had wanted to be as a child.

When they started primary school Courtney immediately befriended a girl named Jennifer Gregory and they became the inseparable pair Hermione and Courtney's parents had wished they could be. They were effortlessly popular while Hermione with her crazy hair, and her buck teeth, and the weird things that happened to only her became more ostracized from her peers as she got older. They made sure that she knew she was unwelcome in their popular crowd and it had been exquisitely painful, especially coming from somebody who was supposed to be her friend.

For some reason Hermione wanted to trust Draco with the story of what could only be termed as her humiliation; but could she? She studied him carefully, his brow was still furrowed and she had the irrational urge to reach up and smooth it out. When he removed his arm from the back of the booth and gently placed it around her shoulders she automatically leaned into him, and felt better; it was a stark reminder that this man was no longer the boy who had once made her life so difficult.

"I was an odd child," she confessed hurriedly, before she could change her mind, "you know that. But it wasn't just at Hogwarts, it was worse at primary school. I was plain, and I'd rather have been reading than doing almost anything else. If that had been all I'm sure I would have been teased, but I think I would have been mostly ignored. But my bouts of accidental magic made me stick out. Of course, nobody knew what it was, just that strange things happened when I was around. Lots of kids, and even adults were afraid of me. I was considered to be a freak." She sighed, he pulled her closer but she couldn't bring herself to look at him and just continued on with her confession. "Then when I was eleven I went off to a boarding school nobody had ever heard of to study things my parents weren't allowed to talk about. They tried to shield me from the talk, but I know that most people thought my parents were ashamed of me and were just trying to get rid of me. And then, I didn't attend university."

He he squeezed her to get her attention. "I don't want to interrupt, but I don't know what that means."

Of course he wouldn't know about the muggle school system. She took another sip of water.

"Muggles go to school before age 11, they actually start at age 5. That is primary school, then comes secondary school. They finish that about the same age we finish Hogwarts. After that comes university. Now, not everybody attends university, but the best students do, and some even go on after that to do what is generally known as post-graduate work. My parents are included in that last group. It takes a great deal of training to be any kind of muggle healer. My parents are some of the best educated people in their society and almost all of the people in their social circle completed at least a university level education." She took a breath and a sip of water. "It was certainly expected that that was the path I would take before we found out that I was a witch. And now I obviously still can't explain what I do for a living, but because I didn't attend university it's generally assumed that I'm a secretary in some low level government office. So, I'm still just sort of considered to be an oddity and with a menial job to boot. Those two girls have felt themselves superior to me almost all of our lives. You'd be slumming it to be hanging out with me, so they'll come over to find out the story."

She breathed an actual sigh of relief when she finished her embarrassing confession. His arm tightened around her again, and he leaned down and actually nuzzled her ear. She shivered and he chuckled darkly; she had a sneaking suspicion that he knew exactly what he was doing to her.

"Well, we'll just have to put on a good show then, huh? Make them see how wrong they are."

"Huh?" She asked ineloquently, not understanding his meaning and feeling more than a little flustered by his actions.

He just brushed a light kiss against her temple in response, then leaned down again so that his nose was touching her ear and began to speak. "I never thought about how it must have been for you. I suppose in the last few years it occurred to me that it must be difficult for muggleborns to just be thrown into our world with essentially no preparation, but I certainly didn't consider it any further than that." His voice was low and rough. "You didn't fit in with muggles because you're a witch, and then you came to Hogwarts and people like me did our best to make sure you'd never fit in with us either. Worse than that, so many of us believed you should be forcibly expelled from wizarding society, if not flat out killed for having the audacity to be born with magic." He sighed. "Hermione," she almost shuddered at the sound of her first name on his lips, "will you look at me?"

Reluctantly she turned to face him and almost gasped aloud at the expression on his face. His eyes were bright with emotion and she'd never seen him appear so unguarded.

"I am sorry for that, for the things I used to believe, for the way that I treated you, for the terrible things that I did. Truly, so sorry, and I should have told you that a long time ago. If I could go back and do it differently I promise you I would. The boy that I was would not have grown into the kind of man that I want to be a father to my son. I did not want to become the kind of man my father was. So, I'm different now. I'll never hurt you intentionally again and if you'll allow me the chance I'll prove it to you."

Her eyes fell shut and she swallowed thickly. She realized suddenly that she had unconsciously moved her hand so that she was gripping his thigh, but when she went to move it he immediately covered it with his free hand. She didn't think there was any way to express to him how much she appreciated his words; she squeezed his thigh.

"Thank you Draco," she said simply.

"I like the way that sounds," he practically growled.

She chuckled. "Me thanking you?" She taunted, thinking she had him pegged.

"You saying my name," he corrected.

She looked up at him in surprise, and found herself further surprised by the stormy intensity in his eyes.

"Does it bother you that I've been calling you by your last name?" She wondered aloud. It had never occurred to her that he might be offended.

"No, not now that you can say it without disdain," he teased. "I just prefer Draco."

"Alright then, Draco. You might start trying to call me Hermione."

"I just did," he murmured so low that she wasn't sure she was meant to hear it.

She grinned at him shyly. "I know, and I liked it too."

Author's Note: So, does it seem to anybody else like Draco's on a mission? Haha. I hope you enjoyed this. The rest of their lunch will be in the next chapter. I had originally planned for it to all be one, but it became downright unwieldy but because of that, while I generally won't promise to adhere to an update schedule, as it doesn't suit my style of writing, I will have this next chapter up next Saturday. Thank you all for reading this story and especially for all your reviews, it's so great to be able to read your thoughts. And special thanks to my beta-reader, idea bouncer, and just wonderful friend, Weestarmeggie!