A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! I am really pleased that you liked the meeting of the two Hermiones - but, don't worry! This will not be the last time that the two witches meet each other. You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.

Please let me know what you thought of chapter twenty-three and be on the lookout for chapter twenty-four soon!

1999

Hermione Granger shuffled through the assorted news clippings that she had been able to get on Hermione Black, which was unfortunately not much. Even though she was meant to be studying for her latest round of Arithmancy exams, she knew that she wouldn't be able to until she got to the bottom of the strangeness with Draco's Aunt.

She had been looking forward to meeting the woman basically since she came into the wizarding world when she was six, but Hermione had been completely unprepared for what she found. You would have to be blind not to see the similarities between them in their looks, even though the other Hermione was older than her. Was it possible that Hermione Black had had a child - her - prior to meeting and marrying Regulus Black? Hermione thought about confronting her own parents to see if she was adopted, but wouldn't do it until she had more information.

The information that she found was nearly as sparse as what Draco had told her. It was unsettling to learn that she was actually Hermione Dagworth-Granger prior to marrying into the Black family, a coincidence that seemed too eerie to ignore. It was one thing to meet another Hermione, but another Hermione Granger was just...too much. Her private education in Switzerland meant that there was almost no record of her prior to her coming to England in 1977. Hermione had found a small blurb about the death of the woman's parents in a ski accident, so she supposed that was the unhappy childhood Draco had mentioned.

Upon arriving in England, the only things she could find out about Hermione came from the brief social notices that were posted in the Daily Prophet. It seemed that she had become a ward of Cassiopeia Black, Regulus's spinster Great-Aunt. They attended various dinners together that all seemed terribly stuffy and odd to be posting in the Daily Prophet, but she assumed it was a left over tradition from another generation. The only real irregularity was that she seemed to have been romantically linked to Rabastan Lestrange, who was rumored to be in Voldemort's Inner Circle during the war.

It seemed that Hermione and Regulus had gotten married after the war, and had Arcturus not long after. Once Cassiopeia Black died, the little social postings dried up and all that was left was a few random announcements to do with their children, or brief mentions in regards to her father-in-law, Orion Black, who had been a well respected member of the Wizengamot.

There was an announcement of her being welcomed into staff as a curse-breaker at Gringotts, but other than that she seemed like a perfectly normal witch. It was maddening really, the way that there was so much useless information about her, nothing of real value at-

"Hey Hermione," Draco's cheerful voice broke her out of her thoughts. Her blond haired friend slipped into the seat across from her. "What are you studying tonight?"

Hermione blushed, quickly hiding the articles about Hermione Black, nee Dagworth-Granger, from Draco's eyes. She wasn't sure how she would explain the research she was doing into his Aunt, especially when he didn't seem to find all their similarities that odd. Clearing her throat, she looked at the top of her notes to remind her what it was exactly she was meant to be revising. "Oh, looking at the statistical probabilities of removing multi-layered curses," she explained.

Draco picked up her numerical chart and looked at it, his eyes widening at how complicated it all seemed. "So, for curse breaking, then?" he asked, looking suitably impressed.

"Yes," Hermione agreed. "Looking at time as the variable - time makes some curses more stable and others more volatile, so there is a lot to consider," she babbled on, trying not to get too distracted by how attractive Draco looked in that moment.

Her best friend was an utter enigma for her. Draco had insisted time and time again that they were just friends, but then he had been so jealous to learn that she had kissed Alphard the one time. Was he just concerned that a romantic entanglement with another wizard would supplant his position in her life? Or did he want to be in that other wizard's position? It was too difficult for her to suss out and by this point she was far too nervous to ask him. She didn't want to look like a silly little fool.

The crush that she'd harbored for the Slytherin that had been simmering for years and years was certainly not helped by how attentive he'd suddenly become. Or the way that he'd matured into his looks, either, losing some of the pointiness of his youth. She knew that he was frightened that he looked too much like his father, but Hermione could see more of the Black family in him as he became a man, especially after meeting Sirius and Regulus.

"Well, can I help you study?" he asked, picking up the stack of flashcards that she had made for herself. "Or, if you are done for the evening, maybe we could go get a bite to eat. You were always pants at keeping up your nutrition during exam time," he said, smirking at her.

Hermione could feel a delightful swoop in her belly at the realization that Draco cared about her needs and her health. That he cared about her, full stop. "You want to help me study?" she asked, nearly stuttering on her words.

Draco smiled at her, making her breath catch in her throat. "Of course I do, silly," he teased. "I know how important your education is to you, and I want to help you achieve your very best."

This was what had made Draco such a wonderful friend. Alphard and Harry weren't here, looking to help. Instead they were out at bar drinking until they could barely stumble home. But Draco was here, having tracked her down to a library, not a club, on his Friday night. In the end, her stomach grumbled loudly protesting it's lack of food. "Let's go to the pub around the corner," Hermione said shyly. "I'll buy you some chips and you can quiz me while we eat."

Merlin, she had no idea what she'd do without Draco.