Alright! So glad that you guys like it!
It was my first HP fanfic, so I wasn't sure, but since you guys liked it, I decided to continue the story. This chapter, however, is slightly different build-up because I wanted to give you guys some more background information before the storyline continues. If this is less to your taste than the first chapter, please bare with me, the following chapters will be more like that again.

If the Flashback in Italics bother you, please let me know so I can change it. Usually I think it's clearer when flashbacks are in Italic but since there's a lot of flashbacks in this chapter I would understand if it became a bit troublesome to read.

Also, I'm not a native, so please forgive me for my grammar and spelling mistakes.

Please, please review! It always gives me a boost to write.

Love to all of you & enjoy.

DPOV

Draco was a changed man.

Well, for the most part he was still the same: He still worked his ass off around the clock, he still prided himself on his family name, he still loved his luxury and tended to be arrogant, sadistic, snobbish and ill-tempered.

So far, so good. Or at least, familiar.

What was different however, were the people he surrounded himself with. Ever since Hermione had been coming to live with him, slutty hookups had already been out of the picture, but even after she'd left – 4 months ago - he hadn't wanted them back either. Moreover he had cut off his friendship with Theodore Nott, although Blaise was still in the picture. He now actually hang out a lot with Ginny and – yes, shocking as it might be – her pathetic excuse of a boyfriend Scarface. No, they did not get along, but for the sake of their friendship – or in Harry's case relationship – with Ginny, they had somehow come to the unspoken yet mutual agreement not to bicker whenever she was around.

It was a work in process really.

But could you blame him? Before Hermione had disappeared on him, he had barely even seen either of them at all. Although… Admittedly, that had been his own fault, seeing how he had made it a rule for Hermione not to have her Gryffindor friends in his house.

Flashback: 7 months ago

"First condition: Scarface and his Weaselette - or any other Gryffindor for that matter - are under no circumstances to enter my house. EVER."

Hermione merely nodded, making Draco doubt if she even heard it at all. He had expected her to at least fight his requests.

"I said… Scarface and his wea-"

"I heard you the first time, Malfoy. Loud and clear. Moving on, what's the second condition?"

Draco blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't dreaming. That just went way too easy. He had had suspicions that Granger had slightly drifted apart with Potter ever since her breakup with the Weasel, but he knew she was still good friends with the Weasellete. So why agree so fast? Draco eyed her warily but decided not to question it any further for now.

Fine then. He'd find out later.

Moving on.

"Second rule: All muggle things are strictly forbidden in the common rooms. You can stuff your bedroom and private bathroom full of them for all I care but I don't want to spot anything muggle lying around anywhere else. Understood?" To be fair, this rule was solely made up to enrage her and man, she did not disappoint.

Hermione's eyes became large and wide, filled with a fuming defiance. As customary, her hands flew to her hips, probably thinking it made her look more menacing while in reality, considering her height, it made her look like a petulant toddler. A cute one at that.

"That's ridiculous Malfoy, and you know it!" She told him insolently. "You're wearing muggle clothes yourself right now for Merlin's sake!"

She had a point.

In fact, he didn't hate muggle stuff at all anymore. He actually was highly impressed by some of their little handyworks and she knew that. Or well, she suspected as much because he would of course never openly come out for it… Although the fact that he had enthusiastically incorporated muggle inventions into the Wizard World for the past 2 years was pretty telling of his tolerance.

Still, it was fun to rile her up.

"I happen to like their clothes at unformal times, yes. I'm not all anti-Muggle anymore, Granger, as you well know. Otherwise you wouldn't have been standing here in my living room right this moment."

He gestured his hand at her feet dismissively, loving how the hands on her hips were just shaking with bottled up anger.

He couldn't help but smirk as Grangers eyes turned wide as saucers. Then she did something that made him know he had hit jackpot. She lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes. She was going in attack and he couldn't help but feel trilled because of it.

"Well, sucks to be you then, Malfoy, because –"

He had no idea what she was planning on saying, but if there was one thing he did know from his twelve years' experience of arguing with a riled up Hermione Granger, it was that if he would let her finish that sentence, he would stand no chance on winning the argument. Not when she was passionate about the subject up for discussion.

Draco had always enjoyed their little tête-à-têtes. Her sharp mind and quick wit easily matched his own, if not exceeded it. Back at Hogwarts, their spiteful banters had been the only form of intellectual conversation he had been able to have with peers, apart from maybe Blaise. But yeah, apart from Blaise and Granger he had had only adults to interact with on his own level of intellect, so Granger – whether she knew it or not – was a big part of his happier childhood memories.

Even if he had hated her back in the day.

"Because what?" He cut off. "It's bad enough that you're going to live under the same roof as me for a while, the least you can do is let me pretend that isn't the case."

"You want to pretend what?!" She hissed, glaring murderously at him. Ah! There was the real raging fire in her eyes at last.

He really hoped she would stomp her feet next, that was always fun to watch.

"Yes, Granger. The Malfoy Manor is a big mansion, you know. We can easily avoid each other and disregard each other's existence. But if you were to leave behind little tokens of you staying here, say those little muggle pens of yours, pretending will become a whole lot more difficult for me."

It looked like she wanted to yell, but impressively enough she seemed to refrain herself from doing so. Instead her voice turned cold and detached.

"You're joking." She deadpanned, only half-believing her own statement.

"I like muggle things but only on particular times, Granger. I chose when and where I surround myself with anything muggle, so I do not want my house stuffed full of it just any time given, understood? If I want to enjoy it, I'll go to the muggles or work, but I refuse to let the muggles come to me."

"You're joking." She stated again, this time it came out in a hiss though.

When he made a point to clean his fingernails and shrugging casually, he saw her mouth drop open in disbelieve and it took him all he had to refrain from laughing.

"Malfoy, you're… you're… Uhrgggg!" She roared in frustration, stomping her feet.

Oh yes, baby! Scoreeeee.

"I'm what? Surely 'urrr' is not the vocabular of the brightest witch of our age."

"Malfoy!" She snapped. "You're a fucking idiot if you think for one second that–"

"Now, that's no way to express gratitude to your new landlord." Draco gauged, successfully cutting her off again. His signature smirk in place.

Her eyes threw him daggers and she opened her mouth to retort but no sound came out. Instead she threw up her hands in utter despair at his unreasonableness. Growling again.

The the vase on the glass table started jingling ever so lightly, the art on the walls moved.

Draco barely noticed though. With a flustered face like that and the matching glare that came with it, Draco wanted nothing more than to kiss those pouty lips raw. Meeting his lustful gaze, however, her blush became more prominent before she crossed her arms protectively in front of her body as she hopped down onto one of the sofa's.

Malfoy thought he'd won the war, but it turned out to be just a battle.

"Too bad, Malfoy. I'm coming to you with all my pots and pans and other disgusting muggle stuff." Her eyes flicked around the room before settling on him with. "And you are gonna love it." The evil grin playing on her lips was both disturbing and enchanting and he found himself too entirely distracted by them to form a retort.

And then, in the blink of an eye, she was gone. Apparated away, probably to pack all of her stupid muggle stuff.

And somehow he felt oddly excited for that.

End of Flashback

Hermione had not been seen or heard off in 4 months' time and in that time, Draco had hired a lot of private investigators to find her but all had come back empty-handed so far. If he were to believe their professional advice, it was an impossible goose hunt to try to out-smart the brightest witch of their age when she obviously didn't want to be found.

He couldn't care less about their 'advise'.

It was all a bunch of utter bullocks if you'd ask Draco.

It wasn't until very recently, when the seventh private investigator had refused to look for her any longer - saying it would be a waist of his time and talent with already six men working on the case - Draco had found out how little he actually knew about Granger.

Yes, he knew enough about her to know what kind of person she was: Annoying, stubborn, snobbish, brave, fierce, kind, forgiving, loyal… You name it.

He knew her character awfully well. After six years of working together, developing some semi kind of friendship and feelings of… uh, something more, he could read her moods perfectly. He could also predict how long it would take her to forgive him after a fight, he knew how she liked her coffee – black – and what her favorite food was – although the latter depended on her mood.

When she was angry for example, she needed meat. The angrier, the bloodier. Beef or steak would be excellent when fuming.
When she was feeling neutral or happy, anything Mediterranean – especially Italian – would do. Pasta, pizza, couscous, tajine and all those other funny little Muggle dishes. Draco always figured this was her 'true' favorite food.
When she was nervous or fidgety for some upcoming event: Salads, fish, low-carbs. Very healthy.
And when she was celebrating or - as he had found out in the last few months she lived with him - on her period, she ate about as unhealthy as she could get: Fast food, cake, chocolate.

But when she was sad… When she was sad she barely ate at all.

He hoped she had been eating well for the past months.

Either way, the fact remained that apart from all those useless little details, he didn't know anything that would help him find her. He didn't understand. They both knew each other so well – or so he had thought – and yet he hardly knew her at all.

How did that happen?

He knew for a fact that she knew about most – if not all – of his struggles. Her poking and prodding into his personal life had made it next to impossible not to, even though he had always tried to scold her away. But the other way around? He'd simply never shown any interest in her personal life, unless he had something to win by it. Like the time he pushed her to break up with the Weasel.

Flashback: 3 years ago

Draco was in a pissed off mood.

Like, more than his usual.

For he had seen flowers being carried into the building today. Now, he didn't hate flowers, not in the slightest and even though the bouquet was nothing spectacularly pretty, he would've normally enjoyed some freshly cut flowers in the building as their scent would lighten up the dull odor in the hallways.

Normally he would like it.
Normally, but not today.

Because he knew who the recipient of the flowers would be: Hermione Jean Granger.

Which meant at least two things that bothered him: One. She still hadn't broken up with that moron of a boyfriend Weasel. Two. The Weasel had fucked something up… yet again.

He had stopped himself from going into her office all day. Whatever it was Weasel had done, he would not make her life more miserable today with his own repressed annoyance at the twat. Although he didn't know the specifics, he knew she had had a shit week and for once he decided not to taunt her for it. Or at least, that had been his plan all day, until he apparated into his office about 8pm that night to pick up some forgotten file from his desk he had planned on studying that night and saw that the light in Granger's office was still on too.

Not even bothering to knock he opened the door and slipped into her office.

She was seated at her desk and made no apparent indication that she heard him enter the room. He decided to watch her for a while, just because he could. She had blossomed quite pretty in the past years. He daresay even beautiful, you know, if her face wasn't forced into a scowl directed at him when they argued.

Today however, she had put in that extra bit more effort.

"Granger wearing make-up… Now would you look at that." Draco drawled bored, deciding to make his presence known."Trying to impress someone? A date perhaps?" He eyed the fresh flowers on the corner of her desk and walked towards them, reading the note attached to the bouquet.

"Sorry. Pick you up from work at 7."

Draco snorted. "Touching." He drawled sarcastically. "I must confess, Granger, those are a lot of words for a Weasel. Had no idea he could write at all."

Hermione stood up and walked over to him, picking up the flowers from the vase before dumping them in the trash.

"They're not from Ronald." It was a lie and he knew it. He also knew she knew he knew.

"What?" His eyebrows shot up. "There's another 'biggest idiot in the world' out there?" He quipped. "Who's the sad excuse of a lunatic?" He knew she would think he'd offended her, she always did and he always let her. She would think he called them idiots for dating her, 'a mudblood', while in truth he thought any idiot who would pass up spending time with Hermione for something else really was an imbecile.

He got no reply, but he could tell he was getting under her skin. Good, he loved her riled up.

"Well, at least it's an improvement from Weasel. This one actually came to his senses before the date even started. Tell me, how does it feel being stood up? I literally have no idea."

"Who says I've been stood up?" She bit back, way too fast to be casual.

Draco scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Get that mind of yours out of the gutter, Granger. It's 8 o'clock: an hour after you should've been picked up and yet here you are." Draco gestured his hand dismissively at the Chinese takeout box on her desk. "Eating takeout. Not to mention you've just stuffed some lovely fresh roses into your garbage bin. It's no hard math to do, hon." He shook his head and added as an afterthought: "Except maybe for Weasel. Why did you date that braindead tosser again?"

"Didn't know you cared, Malfoy."

"I don't but your annoying weeping sounds and the disgusting sniffs are making it my business. It's depressing, really, and also considerably pathetic knowing that the so called 'brightest witch our age' has been stood up, yet again. I simply can't work in a sad atmosphere like that! I have pride to uphold."

"Excuse me?" She scoffed. "First of all, it's 8pm. Go home." He couldn't help but stare at the way her juicy lips came together in a kiss-like movement at that last word. "Secondly, do you see tears streaming down my face? Are my eyes watery and is my nose red? No. Because I'm not fucking crying, Malfoy! So shove your stupid comments up your ass and get out of my office! I'm not in the mood!"

When he made no move to leave she ranted again.

"Are you even listening?!" She accused. Unintentionally, small objects in her room started to jingle as a wind seemed to emerge out of nowhere. This always happened when she got angry.

"Not a word." Liar, liar pants on fire. But she didn't need to know that. This was way more fun.

She was furious. Well good. God knew how much that woman needed to unleash, she just had the wrong person in front of her. Slightly intimidated by the murderous glare she was giving him he put up his hands in the air defensively. "He! Don't kill the messenger! I'm just an honest man only stating some facts. Enlightening the world, so to speak."

Hermione, aware of her moving surroundings, closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm her angry magic down. "There is so much wrong with that sentence I don't even know where to start." She sighed. "First of all, Malfoy, you're no man, you're a git. And just because you feel the need to always 'honestly' showcase all of your poorly thought trough emotions and opinions, doesn't make you right or smart, it only makes you bloody annoying. Now if you will excuse me…" She gestured to the door, ordering him to leave… again.

Seriously, why did she still even bother to 'ask' or order anything? It was not as if he was about to do as she told just because she told him a second time. She should know that by now.

When she reached for her want though, probably to hex him out, something in Draco snapped. Why was he always the one getting the short end of the stick? Why couldn't she lash out at the ones that truly hurt her lately?!

He couldn't stand it any longer. She needed to understand. All these past months if not years he had hold back. He knew he didn't deserve her in the slightest way possible, not as a college, not as a friend and certainly not as a lover, but neither did those tossers she called friends! At least he would never make her as miserable as Weasel currently did. At least Draco had still an upbringing that didn't involve standing up girls.

Weasel did deserve her even less than he did! And Scarface was just a wanker.

"You should dump them." He spat.

"Them?" She scoffed, slightly amused. "And exactly how many boyfriends do you think I have, Malfoy?"

"Your boytoys Scarface and Weasel. They are not worth your time, Granger. Seriously when are you going to use that brilliant brain of yours to realize you're better off without them?"

Her eyes widened at the compliment briefly, before she composed herself. She said nothing but looked up at him through those ridiculously long eyelashes of hers, her big bold sparkling orbs a source of secrets and unreadable emotions. God he would easily give up his entire Malfoy fortune to know what she was thinking.

Her silence drove him mad. She was rarely silent and thus he continued in a rant, trying to fill up the empty feeling of said silence to distract him from his own nerves.

"Weasel is a brainless idiot. Period." At that statement Hermione had to smile a little. "What could he possibly give to you if not a challenging and intelligent conversation? Is it love? Respect? Kindness? Support? Compassion? Yes, I dare say he's doing a spectacular job in those departments." He spat sarcastically. "Hell, I think the boy has let you cry more often than I did back at Hogwarts. Jesus, Granger, I can't imagine the sex good enough to make up for even one of his flaws, let alone all of them."

Granger bit her lip, trying to stifle her reluctant laughter. It would be a bitter laugh, Draco could tell. Her eyes were blinking rapidly, desperate to force the approaching tears away. Her silence still had him continuing.

"You know how I know that? Because he's a taker, Granger, not a giver. Just like Potter." He spat the name. "Both of those boys are nothing but ungrateful friends! Without your help they both would've died a long, long time ago. You kept them alive for years with your endless knowledge and ridiculously prominent sense of righteousness. Do you not think I noticed that? How you did their homework for them and saved their lives time and again back then? And do you honestly think I didn't notice how the Weasel hurt your feelings, also time and again, disregarding all of your needs? And where was your good friend Potter then, when you needed him? When has he ever stood up against Ron on your behalf? When has either of them ever gone out of their way to do anything for you? Supported you to achieve your goals? Made the effort to do something that would make you happy?"

Hermione was silent, eyes downcast on the papers on her desk in front of her, refusing to answer because they both knew the answer to be a bitter truth.

He walked around the desk and crouched down next to her, taking her chin in between his fingers and forcing her to look at him.

In a gentle voice: "They took advantage of your kindness, Granger. You are so willing to give but when did you ever get anything in return? Aren't you tired of it? Aren't you empty by now? Do you not – for once – want to get?"

She swallowed and nodded her head demurely, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

For a second her eyes flicked to his mouth briefly, her head inching closer unconsciously yet prominently so. Just before their lips touched she looked him straight in the eye.

"But you've never done anything kind for me either." There was no accusation in her voice, only uncertainty. A shyness of some sorts, desperate to protect herself from more pain.

She pulled herself away from him.

He took the hint and headed for the door. In the door opening, however, he wavered slightly. "But I never claimed to be your friend either." He breathed softly. He didn't dare to look back at her facial expression.

"Indeed, you didn't." He could hear the small smile in her voice.

"Don't let them mistake your kindness for weakness, Granger, you're far too brilliant for that." And with those words he apparated back home.

End of flashback

If only he had understood then that there was always a win in getting to know Granger.

Of all the girls he'd met, she was by far the realest in every aspect. She would always tell him what she thought of things, whether he cared for her opinions or not. She would press her points, try to convince him, she would laugh at him when he was being ridiculous, smile when he was being something akin to kind [read: not a total dick] and blankly stare at him when he was trying to be funny but really wasn't. She would yell when he was being unreasonable and gauged her on purpose, trying desperately to get though his thick skull – sometimes shooting a hex his way as well – and she would mostly ignore him when he truly deeply hurt her…

Flashback: 4 years ago

"Is everything all right? You seem off edge lately." Her voice laced with concern, her eyes shining bright with honest regard.

"I'm fine." He snapped, shooting her an unmistakably deathly glare. This was none of her damn business.

"Define fine." She asked unfazed, a small understanding smiles pulling on her lips.

Was she pitying him? Did she really think that she understood anything of him? How dare she?! Presumptuous snotty little know-it-all!

"Absolutely fantastic, Granger! I imagine it to be akin to the feeling you had when my precious aunt Bellatrix left her mark on you. Quite the spectacle."

Her grin disappeared as she hurried to pull down her sleeves on instant. While she tried to magically hide the 'mudblood' scar on her forearm with an illusional charm every day, it was still clearly there – if nothing else always in her memory.

"That was uncalled for." She swallowed, her voice small.

Pathetic.

And yet, there was something so raw about the way she looked at him, it scared him. It send a wave of emotions through his body, emotions he never got unless she was around.

Guilt.
Humiliation.
Consideration.

When her big brown eyes were sparkling with unshed tears like that, he felt the urge to wrap her up in a blanket and stroke her back until she relaxed. Maybe he'd even read her that stupid book 'Hogwarts a history' she'd seemed so fond of back at school.

See?

This wasn't good: She ruined his Malfoy ways. She needed to be out of his sight like yesterday.

Draco snorted. "Do I honesty look like I care?" His eyes drifted to the paperwork in front of him, unable to look at her sad eyes any longer and he made a point of sighing loudly to come across unfazed.

"No. Malfoy's don't show trivial emotions. Only the best kind: anger and power." Granger quoted. Apparently, he should stop quoting his father out loud, she was way too quick a study to pick it up and remember it. That's what you got for working with a know-it-all nerd.

"Exactly." Came his bored reply. "Now leave."

She didn't.

"Doesn't mean you don't have any other emotions, Malfoy." She shrugged.

Oh, Merlin-motherfucking no! She was getting way too comfortable!

His eyes snapped to her venomously and she too in his demeanor guardedly, taking a small step back, but at the same time she raised her courage, lifted her chin and squared her shoulders, giving no indication of backing away for whatever was to come.

He respected her for it.

He hated her for it.

And thus, he had to punish her severely.

"Is there a particular reason you and your muggle old-lady skirts are still contaminating my sight? I can handle only so much exposure to a mudblood in one day. It's disgusting really. I'm starting to feel nauseous." His words were spoken razor sharp, and man if they did not cut her to the bone…

The way she stared at him next would leave him awake and uncomfortably twisting in his bed all night: Her demeanor had been dull, if not for her eyes: Staring at him with a whirl of emotions raging in them. All equally depressing.

Anger. Hurt. Sadness. Frustration. Disappointment. And - worst of all – pity.

He could do without her fucking pity.

And yet, the mere thought of that look would haunt him for days. Either way, she had left him alone without another word for the rest of the day and that had been what he wanted right?

Right… Totally.

End of flashback

He would give up his whole Malfoy fortune if that was what it took to get her back, no need to think twice about it. The past 4 months had felt like ages filled of loneliness. He truly hadn't realized what a big role Granger played in his life. Sure he knew they had been working together for six years before she packed up her stuff and left. He also knew she'd been living with him for three months out of necessity and that they had been having sex for 8 weeks out of… what exactly? Fun? Boredom? Lust?

But he had never known how much he truly cared for her before she left. He had never thought he actually wanted her unasked consult and opinions on matters, work or private respectively. He had never realized how she'd made sure the house was warmed up and dinner was either ready, in the make or on the way by the time he came home. He had never realized how much he actually enjoyed eating take-out Chinese in front of her Muggle TV. He had never before realized how he craved her defiance to make the otherwise dull and boring days more interesting.

He did know now.

If only he could go back in time, treat her better: The way she deserved… Because oh, she deserved so much better than what he had given her. After all, she had given him chances no one else would've. She had tried to see reason with him when no one else would even consider it.

Flashback: 6 years ago

He had walked up and down her street about 5 times now… It wasn't because he couldn't find her apartment – which had been plausible as well, seeing that it was so fucking small – but because he was collecting the courage to actually approach her.

He had a plan. Multiple ones, actually. All focused on rebuilding the city and rewriting some laws in favor of both purebloods and muggleborns. He had the funds, he had the employment, he had the ideas. All he needed was someone who would be taken seriously by the Ministry when these changes were to be presented. If it was done in his name, he was sure all of his good and hard work would be shoved into the closest bin without as much as a single glance at them.

He couldn't do this alone. He needed someone.

And thus, he found himself at the doorstep of the teeny tiny apartment of Hermione Granger: His long-time enemy who had defended him in court, courageously saving him from a life of rotting away in Azkaban. She had had no reason whatsoever to defend him, especially not after he had let her suffer at the hands of his aunt… He could still see her pleading eyes focused on him every time he closed his eyes.

Yes, Granger had every reason in the world to hate him.

And yet, she had seen passed her prejudice and personal dislike. She had helped him when she had every right not to… He had been grateful. Still was. And now he somehow had the actual nerve to go to her and ask for even more favors. If roles had been reversed, he was sure he would've let her rot away in jail.

Still… She was the only wizard from the Order he might stand a chance with to get her to help him. She was his only silver lining on redemption.

And so… He knocked.

"Malfoy." She stated emotionless, opening the door just enough for him to see a glimpse of her muggle outfit. "Takes a lot of nerve to show up here. Not at all bad for a coward. Must admit, I'm impressed." It stung, yet he had the impression there was little true malice in her words, but even if there was, he couldn't blame her so he let it slide.

"Work for me." He blurted out nervously.

She stared at him blankly for a few seconds before snorting loudly, clearly amused although he couldn't fathom why. Nothing had come across funny to him so far. "Work for you? Are you sane? Why on earth would I want to do that?" She shook her head, grinning as she tried to shut the door between them. "Good day, Malfoy."

"Wait!" His food was in between her door and the doorpost in a matter of seconds. "Granger, wait. Hear me out. Please."

Please? Please? Where did that come from? Lucius would be sure to roll around in his grave. 'Malfoys do not beg.' He heard his father's reprimanding voice say in his head.

It seemed to work well enough though as the door reopened again and Granger's head peeked through. She glanced briefly at the briefcase in his hands before sighing and making a show of rolling her eyes.

Still, reluctantly or not, she opened the door fully and motioned for him to come in.

"You've got five minutes."

End of flashback

Merlin, how he wished to go back to that day. He had felt so humble and grateful, and even though he'd never stopped feeling grateful towards her, somewhere along the way he had stopped showing it. He had fallen back into his old ways, inevitably falling back onto his own sword of stupidity.

Had he not learned from the first time?
She had already miraculously forgiven him the first time for Merlin's sake!
Why did he have to screw up his second chance as well?

Flashback: 5 years ago

"You're just as prideful as I am, Granger!" He barked. "If not more so. Only in my case it's accounted for."

She scoffed. "Please. Being a pureblood heir is hardly a legitimate reason, Malfoy."

Draco growled in frustration. He could strangle the hag. He could… He really fucking could. He couldn't quite recall how the fight had started, or what it was about to begin with but he did know one thing: all of their fights eventually ended up discussing one single thing: his fucking blood-status… and he was sick of it!

Breathing deeply to control his fuming anger, he settled on a cold indifferent demeanor.

"I'm stunned, Granger, what a legitimate argument you make." Draco deadpanned, showing literally no emotion on his face. "In your eyes I really can do no right, can I? You know what, Granger… I've sat out my punishment, I've made my amends and send my apologies. I've done my duty and I'm trying to rebuild the world for the better with everything I do nowadays. I've done everything and more to show I regret my past wrongdoings, so it's now up to the rest of the world to decide whether or not they want to forgive me - no need, I know you certainly shan't - but I'm done wallowing in self-pity and guilt and I'm sure as hell not going to blame my entire ancestry for something they had no control over."

She looked like she was about to cut in but he didn't give her the time to open her mouth.

"My father made mistakes – big ones at that – and I've made some serious wrong calls too. But I've matured, I've learned and I've changed my visions and ways. If you would ask me now, this whole blood purity spectrum is horridly out of date, but you won't ask me now, because you don't want to believe I've changed. And yet, here I am trying to manufacture or sponsor all kinds of changes that will make this world better and safer. I certainly think some of our traditions and laws will have to make room for new, but as far as I can see, mistakes don't force me to break with my entire lineage to prove a point to you or anybody else. Mistakes merely teach me a lessen and encourage me to do something productive about it and change life for the better."

Without another word he turned around and left her office, ignoring her for the rest of the day.

…

The following morning she walked into his office, her step like a shot of Firewhiskey: strong, determined, purposefully… and sensationally.

She looked impeccable as always: Her wild curls tamed into soft ringlets, bouncing playfully with her step as she strode all the way towards his desk, handing him some files forcefully.

Draco stack his hand in the air, taking the files from her but didn't bother to look up. The one glance at her the moment she stepped into his office had already been enough to get him flustered, and generally Draco hated being flustered. He couldn't think properly, let alone form a coherent sentence when she was around. It was pathetic really how much her presence affected him at times. The less attention he gave her, the better.

It was not meant to be.

She cleared her throat softly.

"Is there something else you need, Granger?" He asked her as bored as he could muster, still not looking up.

"I'm sorry." She stated.

Well that definitely caught his attention. His eyes snapped up to hers, his signature smirk in place as he raised a delicate eyebrow in question.

"Yesterday. I was out of line. My apologies." She told him reluctantly before scowling at him. "Wipe that smug grin of your face before I hex it off." She snapped, turning promptly on her heals to walk out of his office. But he didn't want her to go, not quite yet.

"So, you've forgiven me then? For my previous believes."

Her back stiffened but she continued her steps until she was at his office door once again. Glancing over her shoulder he could see the honesty in her eyes.

"Malfoy, I never held anything that happened against you to begin with."

He knitted his brows in confusion. That didn't make any sense. Why had she made such an effort to avoid him as much as she could for the past year they worked together, if she didn't? Why did she always start a fight? True, so did he because he liked to fight her, but still.

He could swear she hadn't forgiven him yet. If she ever would.

"Holding a grudge and disliking a person's character are two completely different things, Malfoy. I wasn't angry, I simply didn't like you." She sighed but seemingly reluctant continued her explanation. "But that opinion was indeed based and or biased on your old character. I'll try to be open for the new from now on."

And with those words she left, leaving him in doubt whether he should grin or feel offended.

Bloody witch.

End of flashback

Draco was pulled out of his thoughts when Ginny stormed into his office.

"Malfoy! She... I've got a letter!"