Chapter 20

Hermione was already at her desk hard at work, bright and early, when her assistant arrived. Melinda arrived promptly on time for everything, every day, so it was no surprise to Hermione that she had gotten to work first. Especially during a trying time, like this case with the disputed land rights between two different magical species, Hermione needed to make the most of the time available. They were very close to finding a solution that was agreeable to both parties, and so Hermione wanted to make doubly sure that every detail was checked and all the paperwork was well taken care of.

It was a tiny bit of a surprise to her that even though she had told herself several times that she had nothing to be embarrassed about, the moment Melinda walked into her office, she felt a flush coming to her cheeks. It didn't help that Melinda stopped to pat the enormous bouquet that was still sitting near Hermione's desk. It had to be moved from its original location because Hermione actually needed her desk for working and the plants were far too distracting. But they displayed very nicely in the corner of her office just beside her desk. There wasn't much room between her desk and the wall, and the little low table she'd found for the purpose was barely big enough to support the weight of the gigantic bouquet. On Hermione's desk, the tallest blooms had reached nearly to the ceiling, but now they took up nearly the entire corner, so that every time Hermione went around her desk from that side, she had to slide a little or risk getting snagged on a Flitterbloom tentacle (an event that always made her thankful that Malfoy had not seen fit to include actual Devil's Snare). The stasis charm she'd used ensured the plants looked as fresh as the day they were delivered, making for an unusually large and imposing room decoration.

Melinda genuinely loved those flowers. She positively lit up whenever she saw them. Today, after exchanging morning greetings, there was the tiniest hint of smugness as she glanced at Hermione and then the flowers, and Hermione felt her face turning a bit of a deeper red.

Obviously, she needed to address the situation head-on. "Yes, well," she began, trying not to fidget with her quill. She felt ridiculously like a child having to come clean to her mother about something naughty. Someone naughty, she thought, and then quickly dismissed that image. "I gather you know now who sent the flowers."

Melinda just grinned slyly at her—a funny, almost girlish expression on the older woman's face. "I didn't exactly see his face, being as how it was occupied with yours."

Hermione fought against flashing back to the kisses she'd shared with Draco just the night before. A difficult task being as how she'd been thinking about it ever since then. The amusement on Melinda's face would have irritated Hermione if she wasn't feeling so good about it.

Seeing the chair behind her, Melinda lowered herself into it, as she sometimes did when discussing the schedule for the day with Hermione. "But yes, it's clear that Draco Malfoy has very good taste. At flowers, of course." Of course. "But also in lovely witches."

Trying not to smile at the compliment, Hermione ducked her head. "He's quite the catch, isn't he?"

The answering smile on Melinda's face was affectionate. She reached over and patted Hermione's hand. "No, dearie, you are quite the catch. And I'm just glad there was a wizard smart enough to recognize it, and treat a wonderful woman as yourself in a proper fashion." Her eyes twinkled a bit as she added, "He is treating you properly, right?"

Hermione looked around the room briefly. Despite being a Friday morning, the current casefile on her desk meant that she and Melinda would be working extra hard today. But then, she worked hard every day; that was just her way. Melinda had been a Hufflepuff, which meant that her work ethic was just as strong as Hermione's own. It also meant that Melinda's romantic streak was kilometers wide.

Setting down her quill, Hermione decided to take just a few minutes to indulge herself in conversation. "Well," she answered in a low voice, leaning forward across the desk prepared to disclose everything, "he asked me out yesterday."

"Out? Like a date?" Melinda asked, confused. "Didn't you already do that?"

"No," Hermione said. Then she corrected herself. "I mean, yes, he's asked me on a date." Ever the stickler for details, she had to correct herself again. "Technically, I asked him. For the first time, at least."

"Oh, how wonderful! So confident you are, Hermione!" Melinda clapped her hands, and the excitement visible on her face made Hermione eager to share more. She hadn't realized how much she'd been dying to talk to someone.

"Well, it happened because he kissed me, quite by accident." On second thought, though, that probably wasn't true.

Melinda's next words echoed her thoughts. "How could a kiss be by accident?"

"I think I'm telling this story wrong." They both laughed. "Do you remember the day he came to my office?"

Melinda nodded, wide-eyed. She remembered the imposing figure of Draco Malfoy in his Auror robes bearing down on their little department, and how Hermione went off with him shortly after.

"Well, we went for a walk and had a…discussion." She didn't feel like mentioning the part about Ron's announcement, although Melinda would surely remember the day, anyway. She also didn't feel like trying to explain about what Draco had done for her, and the throwing and breaking of china plates. "Afterwards, we were sitting on a bench and as I was trying not to…feel sorry for myself—" an understatement that was, "—I looked over at him and…he just kissed me." Her eyes went a little misty remembering it. "The briefest, gentlest kiss, almost like it wasn't even real."

Melinda sighed with her hands folded over her heart, and Hermione was tempted to skip over the next part, because she didn't want to disappoint her. "But then I ran away. Just jumped right up, mumbled something I can't remember, and ran away."

"Oh, dearie, he took you by surprise." Her tone was commiserating, and Hermione almost expected another pat on her hands.

"Very much so! But after I'd had a little time to think about it, I realized I wanted to know what would have happened if, well, if I hadn't run away. So I asked him to dinner."

She giggled at that. "And took him by surprise, no doubt!"

"You wouldn't have known it to look at him! He was so cool and calm, like women burst into his office all the time asking him to dinner." Hermione paused for a moment. Come to think of that, it might be true. She didn't know. Harry had such things happen to him all the time. And not only was Harry married, with a son, no less, he was also nowhere near as attractive as Draco was! (Factually speaking, of course. No offense meant to her best friend.)

"Then he sort of—" she paused, searching for the right word, "finagled a second date out of that first asking."

"That sounds just like a Slytherin." Melinda's voice held a tone of satisfaction that wasn't commonly expressed in relation to Slytherins. As if she were amused and pleased at the same time.

"Why, Melinda!" Hermione exclaimed, jokingly. "What do you know about Slytherins?"

Melinda sighed again and a bit of a far-off look came into her eye. "There was once a young Slytherin lad I knew myself. Cunning and sly." She smiled. "But ever so sweet."

Surprised, as she'd never heard Melinda mention any such thing, Hermione felt compelled to ask, "What happened?"

Melinda just shrugged, her expression wistful. "Grindelwald."

The force with which that single name hit Hermione was stunning. Not because of that Dark Wizard's history. But because she might as well have said 'Voldemort.' And the memory of how the world had once again almost slipped off into darkness always hit her square in the heart.

This time she thought of poor Melinda's Slytherin. She thought of Draco. And how if fate had twisted a slightly different direction, they might none of them be here at all. Certainly not she and Draco together. He'd fought on the other side, after all. He'd been a Death Eater, and the proof was still black on his skin.

For the briefest moment she felt all the doubts she hadn't yet expressed surfacing in her mind.

Melinda saw the look on her face, and she made a distressed clucking sound. "Oh, no, dear, don't let it make you sad! It was long ago. And the memories bring me nothing but a fondness for the girl I was, and the wonderful man he was." Her tone was sincere, if quiet. "I feel grateful to have had him even for that short time."

There was silence in the little room, as Hermione tried to put her fear into words. "Am I making a mistake, Melinda?"

"What?" The sudden change in the conversation appeared to shock her assistant.

"I made a choice before, a poor one. And he—" Hermione sidestepped his name, "—he fought for the Order, I thought I knew who he was, and I believed—I really really believed—that he loved me. But I made a mistake. And I made another one by letting myself be misled for so long." She thought Melinda was going to interject a comment, so she kept right on talking, "And Draco—Draco is…wonderful. But how could that be? Is this just—Am I just making another horrible mistake?"

She stared down at her desk, the two situations lying side by side in her mind. On the one hand, Ron should have been a safe bet. A Gryffindor from the Order of the Phoenix. A hero. Her best friend.

And on the other hand, the boy who had tormented her through half of her childhood. The boy who had been the first person to call her the name that was carved into her arm.

She felt a touch on her hand breaking through her internal musings and she looked up at Melinda.

"It is never a mistake to love," Melinda declared. "Sometimes we make the mistake in trusting someone who doesn't deserve to be trusted, but love is not a mistake, it's a choice. You chose to love Mr. Weasley. His love was—" her face screwed up in distaste, "flawed. But yours was pure. And you have no shame in that."

Hermione opened her mouth to add to the comment, but it was Melinda who talked over her this time. "If you choose to love again, that's not a mistake, either. Only you can decide if he is worthy of your trust."

She thought about that for a moment. As a student at Hogwarts, she wouldn't have trusted Malfoy with a fake practice wand. But Draco, did she trust him now? In the years since she'd worked with him at the Ministry, he'd never—not once—given her, or even Harry for that matter, any reason to doubt him. Her experience with Ron had just caused her to doubt her judgment. If she had been so fooled before, could it easily be happening again? She knew she shouldn't be letting her experience with Ron cast a cloud on her relationship with Draco. But it was very hard not to compare the two situations, to wonder if she was once again overlooking a character flaw because she wanted to believe the best of someone.

As if echoing her thoughts, Melinda said, "But for what it's worth, Hermione, I think you have the chance for something far greater with Mr. Malfoy than you ever did with Mr. Weasley."

Hermione raised one eyebrow and wryly suggested, "Because he knows his flowers?"

Melinda scoffed. "Because the boy knows when to send them. And more importantly, because he knows that you don't take some things, like the high regard of someone you care about, for granted." She looked over at the flowers on their little stand, and then turned back to Hermione. "Be honest now, is there a flower in the center of that bouquet?"

Hermione's sudden grin gave her away. "What makes you ask that, Melinda?"

"Oh, come now, dearie, I've been staring at it all week. He's not the young man I think he is if he missed a golden opportunity like that."

Hermione leaned over, her chair just close enough that one hand could reach the outer layers of the plnats, which she pulled back gently to reveal the tiny little tulip in its tiny little cage. The movement was obviously practiced, though no one needed to know Hermione did it several times a day just so she could look inside.

"I knew it," Melinda breathed, another sigh fluttering out. "There's something in the way he looks at you. Forgive me for saying, but Mr. Weasley never looked at you the way that blonde boy does."

That remark caught her attention. "When have you ever seen us together?" She blushed again, as she remembered Melinda had witnessed them wrapped around each other. But she quickly spoke over her embarrassment. "I mean, other than last night."

"Why, at the Ministry Dinner, of course. He was very handsome in his black robes, and you in that beautiful green dress."

"That was our first night together," Hermione remembered. "I only went with him to stick it to Ron. We weren't even dating." But then she thought of Draco's list, and how he classified it as their first date. Maybe he had asked her out first, after all.

"He couldn't keep his eyes off of you. Anyone else might have thought he was cold or calculating. Slytherins are particularly good at hiding their feelings. But he couldn't fool me." The older woman's expression was distant again, as she looked back on something only she could see. "When a Slytherin loves, he loves completely." Her eyes were soft and they twinkled as she added, "And when he decides on something, or someone, he pursues it completely until he wins it."

A little shiver went down Hermione's back at that description. Not fear, not quite excitement. Anticipation, perhaps. The same as whenever he turned those silvery eyes on her and focused on her like nothing else existed.

Sitting back in her chair a little bit, her hands still on her papers, Melinda added, "And every witch deserves to know what it feels like to be pursued by her wizard."

The thought made Hermione smile, slightly. The situation certainly was very different. With Ron they'd danced around each other for so long that when they finally came together, they were just together. There had been no nervous conversations asking for a date, no sweet letters, no flowers (unless he screwed up). Instead there had been irrational jealousies and possessive speech, and later, demeaning insults about his waste of time.

The attention Draco gave her was as different as night and day. She felt…important. Cared for. Wanted. Yes, that was it. When he'd kissed her the night before, she'd felt desperately wanted. It was in the way his tongue danced with hers, in the way his hands held her close. When he looked at her, she felt a fire lit inside of her. She'd thought it was just in her head, a trick of her hormones in the way her skin heated and her belly clenched, wondering if she was imagining the strength of his feelings. Was it true that Melinda had noticed even as early as that Dinner? And if she had, had anyone else?

Harry, she thought. Harry had probably noticed. That must have been what Ginny meant when she said that Harry already knew. He'd observed him for years, being the head of the Auror department. How uncharacteristic of Harry to be both observant and discreet. How lovely of him to be quietly supportive.

Hermione almost laughed at that. Her mood was bright again, the previous misgivings she'd voiced seeming to have dissipated into the morning air.

She noticed Melinda had been observing her as those thoughts ran through her mind. "He asked me out," Hermione confirmed, bringing the conversation back to the beginning. "Not just on a date, but…a commitment." Then she grinned, the words he used bringing a bit of a blush back to her face. "He asked me for my kisses. All of them."

Melinda gave her a knowing look. "That certainly explains how I found you both, then. Sealing the deal, as you young ones would say."

The sounds of both of their laughter mixed in the air, warming the room, and seeming to signal the end of the conversation. The older witch carefully pushed herself up into a standing position and carried the files she needed out of the room. In the doorway, though, she stopped and turned back. "Hermione?"

The informal use of her first name, uncharacteristic of her assistant, drew her attention back from where it had begun wandering to Draco and the feel of his lips on hers. "Yes, Melinda?"

"I've never seen that look on your face, before, either. Not in these years we've worked together, not ever with Mr. Weasley."

"What look is that?" Hermione asked, curious about the indulgent, affectionate expression on her assistant's face.

"The look of a woman who has given her heart away to a worthy man."

With another twinkling smile, Melinda exited, leaving Hermione with much to think about. She glanced again at the flowers in the corner, the tiny promise in the center once again hidden from view, and felt a lovely warmth blooming in her chest. It did indeed seem that she'd given her heart away. To a man who sent her flowers, who made her laugh, who made her feel good about exactly who she was…who was going to make her dinner. She grinned to herself. She couldn't wait.

OOO

A/N: Hello lovelies. I'm so sorry for the extended delay. It was the strangest delay. This was not the chapter I'd been trying to write. For weeks (months?) I've been working on a different chapter, and it just wasn't happening. There was something missing. It was the same thing that happened when I sat down to write the last chapter. These last two chapters were not at all part of the outline, but sometimes I can't move forward until I find the missing link. And this was one (or two) of them. So here you go. I know you were hoping for the dinner, but that's coming up next. For real this time.

Once again, thank you all for your continued support of this story. I love seeing all of your reviews, and all the reminders telling me you are still reading and waiting are really highly motivating. I recently joined some great groups on Facebook to help me to write better. You can find me on Facebook as Maloreiy Webster, and if you write Dramione or other HP fanfics, feel free to join the groups I'm in. They are wonderful for writers, betas, Dramione fans…I've even managed to make at least one cover picture of my own for a story, thanks to an art group.

Which reminds me, I wrote a silly one-shot of Hermione/Cormac. Check that out when you get the chance, it's posted here on FFN. I also wrote a 5-chapter (about 25k words) story called Curses, which is posted exclusively on Hawthorn & Vine (Dramione-dot-org), because that's where all my MA stories go. (Head Girl and Head Boy get trapped in a cell together with unusual consequences from the spell they were hit with. Nearly PWP.) Remember you can find me under the same penname there.

Coming up, are the next chapters for Draco's Bad Day. I think another serious chapter or two, and then the return of the humor. I don't know how this story got so serious when it was supposed to be all fluff. Also, I've got a Neville/Luna Marriage-Law short fic that should be coming out very soon. I won't post it until it's completed, and it's about three-quarters finished. And lastly, as part of H&Vs latest Prompt Fest, I'm working on a Veela!Draco story to be released on February 4th. (I don't know when I will post it on FFN, but sometime shortly after that.) So that's all. And I'm sorry this Author's Note is so appallingly long, but I literally don't know when I'm going to post next, so I wanted to make sure it's all there.

And the last thing. Thank you to everyone who has Favorited this fic. I like to sort all the stories by the most Favorited, and my story has finally cracked the top 1000 list. LOL. I know that doesn't sound like much, but it thrills me. So if you haven't Favorited this story (and it's one of your legit favorites), then do so, and make my day to watch it climbing up the charts.