A/N: My apology is at the end. I am really, really, honestly and truly sorry for having such a long leave.
_

Finally, things were back to normal between the two of them. Of course, there was the odd – "Could you be more stubborn?" – but they quickly realized that having stupid, petty arguments was the norm between the two of them. It was weird. But weird was good.

Hermione lugged her suitcase up behind her. "Ready yet?" Draco rolled his eyes, lugging his own up to hers. The last few days had passed surprisingly quickly, and it was now time for their stay at Hermione's. Which would be interesting.

"Yes, mother." Draco replied, holding out his arm. Hermione took it, grumbling.

"If I was your mother, I would've slapped you silly a long time ago."

"And what's stopping you now?"

"Don't push it, Malfoy."

"Yes, mother."

And before Hermione could really slap him silly, they apparated.

~.~.~

Cassia stayed quietly in the middle of the floor. Hermione sighed, pulling the hairband out of her hair, brushing it back.

"Really, I don't even know why you brought her back here. Crookshanks will definitely not like her-" Draco gave her a pointed look. "-No offence, obviously, but I don't think your mother would appreciate coming home and seeing Cassia with half of her face scraped off."

Draco looked at Cassia, who looked back, blinking with big eyes.

"Granger, you haven't seen Cassia fight. And when I say fight, I mean fight."

Hermione shrugged. "Fine, but when Crookshanks comes to me-"

A rusty yowl could be heard behind Hermione. Too late. She took a deep breath, turning behind her to see Crookshanks, his squished face looking up at her.

"Well, if he hasn't scraped her face off already, I think we're pretty much safe." Draco commented. Hermione hummed and stepped out of the way, letting Crookshanks see Cassia.

They regarded each other.

Strange, Hermione noted. It felt a bit like she was Crookshanks, and Cassia was Draco, albeit gender reversed.

And to be honest, she liked Cassia a lot more then Draco.

It was pretty silent, unless you counted the soft padding of paws as the two cats regarded each other, turning in an irregular circle.

Hermione still didn't know if her cat's reaction was good or bad, as she watched the two of them carefully. She glanced at Draco, who looked a little wary.

Pad, pad, pad.

And then, with one swift motion, Crookshanks stalked off into the living room, leaving Cassia in a flick of orange fur.

Hermione was slightly amused.

"So… Was that good or bad?" Draco asked, crossing his arms.

"Actually, I think Crookshanks is a bit shy." Hermione replied, her mouth curving into a smile.

"Oh, like you?" Draco grinned.

"Shut up."

"Make me."

Hermione scowled. "My house, my rules."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm putting my muggle clothes on."

Hermione watched him lug his suitcase up the stairs, calling up. "Hey, d'you want to see where I work today?"

Draco stopped, peering down the banister at Hermione. "Wait, you have a job?"

"It's just at Costa- I mean, at a coffee shop. But yeah, it might be a big shock to see compared to your rich-boy lifestyle, so I suggest you prepare yourself." Hermione grinned.

Draco leant his suitcase against the wall, crossing his arms and putting them on the banisters, leaning down on them and looking down at Hermione, smirking. "Do you have to wear a maid's costume, by any chance?"

Hermione wrinkled her nose. "God, you are literally the epitome of male hormones, you know." She said, her tone disgusted. "And no, I don't. Just an apron."

Draco opened his mouth in mock-shock. "What, with nothing underneath?"

Hermione just shot him a look, stalking off very much like Crookshanks into the kitchen, calling back. "You better get ready soon, or I'm just going to leave you here."

"We only just got back!" Draco retorted, rushing up the stairs.

"Not my problem!" Hermione trilled back.
_

A/N: Alright, I owe you guys a very big, and very sincere apology. I think I might possibly, be the worst author ever. I know, as do most of the long-term readers, that I am quite accustomed to long breaks. But in all honesty, my muse nearly abandoned this story, and for that I apologize. I obviously understand if this is too long a wait, and I have lost the majority of you, but hopefully some of you have stayed, because I know I have some extremely lovely readers. I also have other reasons, as school has been extremely asdfghjkl recently, and my normal laptop, the one I usually write my stories on, has completely broken down, so I'm currently using a spare one, which takes around 10 years to load if you even move the mouse (so yeah, writing this has taken a little over an hour, even for the very little I've written). Sigh.

Long story short, I am extremely sorry, my bbys. I still love all of you, and I will try my very hardest to get this going again! c:

Also, I have a request to ask any of you out there (*echoes*). If any of you are somewhat experienced with Harry Potter Roleplaying, or even better, RP'ing on Chatzy, please message me if you are interested, or rather willing, to play a male character.

Thank you all if you've stuck with me! I honestly don't deserve the 100 or so reviews I have so far, I am a terrible author.

I love you all! (^-^)

And, oh wow, I've just looked over the reviews, and I'm nearly reduced to tears to how kind all of you are. You guys really are the best. I am also very sorry if there are any hiccups in the grammar!