A few hours later at the Leaky Cauldron, Hermione was on her third glass of wine, and Draco was on his third firewhiskey. She was getting pretty tipsy, and it was obvious.
Giggling, she put her hand on Draco's shoulder. "Draco, do you remember that time I accidentally turned your tie Gryffindor colors?" She couldn't help but collapse into laughter.
"That was really funny. But I have to admit, you did look good in it. Maybe you were meant to be in Gryffindor instead of Slytherin." And with that, she laughed so hard she doubled over and gasped for air. Draco just rolled his eyes and smiled. She had been looking over legislation that day and had been idly twirling her wand in her hand. All of a sudden there was a bang, and abruptly his normally green tie was striped scarlet and gold. She had gasped and apologized, but Draco just waved away her apologies and changed his tie back. But the memory of the incident made him smile.
"Oh, so you think I look good in Gryffindor colors, huh? You obviously forgot what I looked like at Hogwarts in my Slytherin robes," he said, winking at her. She blushed a deep crimson, and looked at her feet. She then mumbled something that Draco could barely make out, although it sounded like "I remember".
He wouldn't admit it, but Draco loved seeing her blush. She was the opposite of most women he surrounded himself with – proud pure-blood women that looked down their nose at just about everyone. Hermione treated everyone as her equal, and didn't care if her hair was out of place or if she snorted when she laughed. Her blush reminded him of that.
He took two fingers and lifted her chin up, looking into her eyes. This woman was amazing, and now that their legislation was passed, they wouldn't get to work together every day. The thought made him really sad, something that surprised him. Since when did a Malfoy get so attached? It was then that he noticed how drunk she was.
"Hermione, I think you need something to eat. Drinking rule number one: don't drink on an empty stomach. When was the last time you ate?" he asked, looking at her with probing eyes.
"Um… noon," she murmured, avoiding his eyes.
"Well, then let's eat. Be right back," he said, and then walked to the bar before she could object. He came back in a few minutes with two platters heaped with food. Hermione looked at him with wide eyes.
"I can't eat all this!" she said, hiccupping.
He just smiled and shook his head. "Eat, Hermione," he insisted, helping himself to some sausage.
They were happily eating and making conversation about people at work when they heard someone clear their throat. They both whipped their heads around to see Harry Potter standing at their table, looking thoroughly confused.
"Hey Hermione... Ginny and I came in for a drink and I saw you. I thought I'd say hi, but I can see you're busy. If you want to talk, we're sitting over there." He pointed to the bar, where Ginny sat with a glass in her hand, looking at her husband with a similar look. With an uncomfortable wave, he turned around and walked away.
"Potter, you're more than welcome to join us. You and your wife," Draco said smoothly, surprising Harry and Hermione. She looked at him shocked while Harry just shrugged.
"Ok, I'll go get her then." After he walked away, Draco looked at Hermione and laughed at the shocked expression on her face.
"What, I can't invite your friend over for a drink?" he said, taking a handful of chips and leaning back in his chair.
Hermione sputtered, "Yes, you can. I just wasn't expecting it."
Draco shrugged. "Potter's not a bad guy. I run into him from time to time in the ministry, and he's one of the few people that treats me quite pleasantly." Hermione could hear the bitter edge in his voice, and thought about how many times she'd seen people mutter to each other when he walked by. The thought made her unhappy.
The scraping of chairs interrupted her thoughts. Harry and Ginny had come over to sit with them, and had brought a pint of butterbeer with them.
"Good to see you Hermione, didn't expect to see you here!" Ginny exclaimed, giving Hermione a wink and a look that told her that they would talk later. Hermione internally cringed, Ginny was probably going to grill her about why she was out with Malfoy. She probably thought that they were dating. Surprising, the thought sent a thrill through her. She shook herself. Since when did she get excited at the thought of dating Malfoy? It's probably just the alcohol, she thought to herself. She was glad that he made her eat – her head was spinning less and it sobered her up quite a bit.
"Hermione?" Ginny shook her out of her reverie.
"S-sorry, I was just thinking about other things. How are you doing, Ginny?" Ginny just gave her another look and proceeded to talk about how James was finally starting to walk and how he got into everything. As she talked, Hermione relaxed, continuing to munch on the snacks Draco had brought. It was good to be around Ginny, she hardly ever saw the witch anymore. Even at the Sunday dinners, Ginny was busy watching James and catching up with her sister in laws.
The whole group looked quite relaxed, with Harry and Draco chatting about what sounded like talk about a new experimental breed the Ministry was working on. It was wonderful to see everyone getting along. If this had been five years ago, things would have been very different. Draco and Harry wouldn't have even looked each other in the eye without disdain, and Harry and Ginny would have never accepted a friendship like this.
After about another hour of talking and laughing, the foursome parted ways.
"Hermione, you need to come over for dinner this week. Ginny and I miss hanging out with you!" Harry was practically pleading.
"Alright Harry, I'll floo you and make plans. Don't worry, I miss you too!" She gave the raven haired man a tight hug, and then gave his red-headed wife a hug too. "Say hi to James for me!"