Review offering insight to the story:

"By some stroke of luck I found out that this had been updated; it seems that the same problem that happened a while back with the alert emails not being sent is happening again. Anyway, well I guess that the only word that is really appropriate is WOW! That was truly amazing; the meticulous and basically flawless writing of this chapter to me was mind blowing. I found the scene where Harry was reading or rather viewing through the book so touching; it shows just how secret Draco and Hermione's relationship had been with the articles/interviews. I laughed so hard with those newspaper clippings, they were so light hearted and the subtle hilarity was brilliant. I do feel sorry for both Ron and Harry when they are finally realising just how absent they really were in her life after Hogwarts. I have to say that those moments where they were reading the short notes from Draco and Hermione to one and other was mildly intriguing, it's obvious that from her last entry their could be a clue as to why she has disappeared. I also think that the last writing from Draco was so full of raw emotion and fear that it just made this story reach greater heights (if that is even possible). Anyway I am rambling, this was a wonderful update and I do hope that you can update soon. I love this story and congratulations on another mind blowing chapter! -Mel-" - CrystalizedHeart of FanFiction net.

Thank you to the following reviewers of chapter four: Avanell, G, AshleyEH, Grace, Laendra, Ellie Lupin, Monnbeam, TheSlayerettes, Rae 16, Pheydre, Draco1989, DanRadcliffe5666, I Set My Friends On Fire, yumi hasegawa, hanvu, dragoneyes5000, XxstarlightxX, LadyAkina, heavengirl899, Jester08, mrivera, quiet-mg, Zarroc, Caligirl-HPLVR, bethygirl94, sasmith andespecially SeanEmma4Evr, laugh.live.learn, Marionette, mskiti and galloping-goose.

Secret Life
Interlude
-Move In-

Early 1999

Draco ran barefoot across the floor of his flat, his shirt wide open and his tie loose around his neck. He had to be at work in less than twenty minutes and he still had absolutely no idea where he left the finished papers for the loan he had agreed to. He was working in the living room the night before, instead of at his desk, so he had no idea what he had done with them. He had already checked his desk, in hopes that maybe he had been responsible and put them there when he was done. But no, they weren't anywhere to be found.

Hermione was fast asleep in his bed, this being her morning off. He would've had more time to look around, however always the early riser, Hermione had woken up awhile ago and completely caught his attention with a naughty bare leg skimming up his body. Having fallen asleep after their morning escapade, he woke up to find he had hardly any time to get ready and hurry to work. He tried retracing his steps for the fifth time only to find it completely useless. "Screwed, Draco, you are utterly screwed," he muttered, shaking his head and searching the living room all over again. He knelt beside the coffee table, checking beneath it and the couch to see if maybe the papers had been knocked down at some point.

A loud yawn caught his attention and he turned to see Hermione in the doorway to his bedroom. She was dressed in one of his work shirts, though it was long enough to meet the middle of her thighs. She looked so unbelievably enticing that for a moment he couldn't help but think, "Screw work, I'm staying home!" Her hair hung down in tangles, mostly from their tussle earlier, and her face was sleepy but content. She leaned against the doorway, her eyes moving around slowly. "What are you doing?" she wondered, walking further in and plopping down on the couch, hers leg dangling over the side.

He had to forcibly stop his hand from reaching out and running the length of her creamy limb and turned his eyes away, trying to remember what it was he was doing. "Uh..." He shook his head, furrowing his brow in question. He heard her chuckle and knew she figured out that she had completely distracted him.

"You look a mess," she told him, sitting up, her legs braced on either side of his kneeling form. He told himself not to wonder if she was wearing anything beneath it and to remember what it was he had been doing before she woke up. It was something important, something that deserved his full attention. Something... "You realize you have work in fifteen minutes, right?" she asked, reaching out to do up the buttons of his shirt. He stared at her a moment, taking in the wrinkle of her nose as she focused on tying his tie properly.

He nodded absently, still out of his mind with questions about what he had to do. Work... work... work. Something was nearly clicking. And just when he thought he had it, she tucked in his shirt. Her hands smoothed the shirt down and he felt them gliding across his sides and making him gulp as his eyes fell shut. "Easily distracted, that's what you are," he thought, "Bird puts her hands down your pants and you go completely blank." She smoothed out his collar and straightened his tie against his chest. A moment later she was running her hands through his hair, obviously clearing away the disarray, though he was thoroughly captivated by the ministrations of her hands and not their purpose.

"D'you have everything ready for work?" she asked innocently.

"Work," he repeated, sounding thoroughly befuddled.

She smiled, chortling lightly. "Yes, work, Draco, where you're supposed to be very soon. You have to bring in the papers to verify Clarence's loan, remember? You were drawing it all up last night." She stared at him imploringly, obviously trying to see if anything she was saying was ringing a bell.

And just like that, everything came back. "Work, loan!" he exclaimed, his eyes widening. "Right, I have no idea where I put them. I was looking for it before you," he said, pointing at her with accusation, "came out and completely rattled my thoughts."

Grinning like a Cheshire cat, Hermione shrugged simply. "They're on the kitchen table," she told him, nodding her head back. "You always have your bagel in the morning, I figured I should leave it where you'd see it."

"Ah, the kitchen! I never thought to look there," he told her, scrambling from the floor and running into the dining room to find it sitting prim and nice on the top of the beige table top. Smiling with relief, he gathered it up and placed it in the side-bag sitting on the chair waiting for him. Looping it over his shoulder, he walked back into the living room. "Okay, I'm off, I'll see you tonight," he told her, making his way to the door. He had to stop, search around the closet and then sigh, when he found he his shoes weren't there.

"Office, right beside your chair. You were in a hurry last night, remember?" she asked, looking up at him with an amused smile.

"What would I do without you?" he wondered, hurrying across the flat to the second bedroom to grab his shoes. "Okay, now I'm off," he told her, making his way once more to the door.

"You might want to take your wallet," she told him, shaking her head. "You have no lunch with you, and you'll be in a meeting all morning. Then you have another twenty minutes after noon. Meaning you'll have to get something from the store downstairs," she warned. "And put socks on," she added.

He nodded, "I don't have my wallet then?" he asked, opening his side bag to begin looking.

"It's on the end table by the bed," she told him, running a hand through her hair, "where you always leave it."

Sighing, he hurried over to his room and then called back. "Is there anything else? In here, at least?"

"Nope," she told him, clear and amused.

He came out of the room, shaking his head and looking frazzled. She handed him his dark grey suit coat, which was hanging over the back of the couch and he slipped it on with a frown. "All done?" he asked, his brow lifting.

She nodded, "Yes, now you're down to two tasks and you can be on your way," she told him.

He leaned down on the couch, his arms crossing over top each other. "And what are those?" he wondered exasperated.

She tapped her mouth, leaning up to him, looking cheeky. Grinning, he moved forward, capturing her mouth in a quick but deep kiss. He left one last peck on her forehead and said, "I love you," finishing his last task before walking to the door.

"Check and check, Mister Malfoy, well done," she told him, falling back on the couch with a flourish and getting comfortable.

Laughing, he shook his head as he walked out of his flat, closing the door behind him. He was nearly fifteen minutes late getting to work but it was all right because Clarence was twenty minutes off meeting time, looking lost and disheveled. His reply was an apologetic laugh and, "Sorry. Me wife is the only one who knows where I keep me clothes. She's outta town and I couldn't find me pants for the first hour. You know how it is, eh! Without her, I'm like a duck without a pond. Runnin' round aimlessly." Draco laughed good-naturedly and was thankful that Hermione had helped him out, otherwise he would've been the one apologizing for his ineptness.

The rest of the afternoon was hectic, and Hermione was right to remind him that he had another meeting just twenty minutes after the one with Clarence. He hardly had the time to run downstairs and get himself a sandwich from the store below his office. His stomach was in knots from hunger by then and he was ready to go home and cuddle up to Hermione and forget all about small businesses and loans altogether. He pushed on though, getting through the meetings and working on papers until nearly six at night. By the time he made it home, he was ready to pass out and he had a thorough dislike for figures and people alike.

Walking through the front door, he smelled something heavenly. His mouth salivated and his stomach gave a distinct grumble, wanting a taste of whatever was cooking. Dropping his bag at the door, he slipped his shoes off and removed his jacket, dropping it over the side of the couch as he tugged on his tie and walked to the kitchen. The radio was belting out a soft tune and Hermione could be found dancing lightly around the kitchen as she sang to herself, a salt and pepper shaker in her hands. After a twirl, she dropped them on the table and then moved back over to pick up the bowl of tossed salad.

Draco found himself grinning as he leaned against the doorway, simply taking in her cute form dressed in a white apron splattered with what he was sure to be spaghetti sauce. Her hair was rather messy, up in a half ponytail, some of the curls falling to frame her face. She looked a little harried, but nonetheless radiant. After plopping a couple plates down on the table, she stirred the pot of sauce on the stove and then tasted a bit of it from the wooden spoon in her hand. After twisting her mouth around, her eyes turned up high in thought, she nodded and began ladling it into a bowl. Picking that up, oven mitts on her hands to keep from the boiling hot bowl, she put it down on the table and then worked on getting the noodles into another bowl.

In that moment, the hustle and bustle of the overwhelming atmosphere of his day seemed to melt away into nothing. From start to finish, his day had been nothing but complicated and drawn out. However, now he felt as though it were all worth it. He watched her a moment longer, swaying her hips to the beat of the song, completely absent to the fact that he was there. She untied the back of her apron and pulled the collar over her hair, before folding it up and placing it on the counter by the fridge.

While she was backing up, rocking her hips and bobbing her head as she sang quietly and just a little off key, he moved up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She jumped a little but then settled back against him, smiling warmly. He danced with her until the song ended, laughing as they made fools of themselves and enjoyed every moment of it. His hand sat over her stomach while the other was tangled with hers, holding it high in the air as they swayed and turned randomly. As the song came to and end, she was left in laughter, turning around to look up at him with shining eyes.

"How was work?" she asked, after giving him an affectionate welcome home kiss.

"Long," he told her, shrugging as he led her to the table. "Dinner looks wonderful," he offered, unable to stop the smile that had overtaken his face.

"Thank you, I thought after this morning you'd like to come home to something comforting. I figured you wouldn't want to go out at all, so I made one of your favorite dinners. Tried my luck at garlic break and I'll have you know, there is such thing as too much garlic!" she told him, nodding with her wisdom.

Laughing, he scooped some noodles onto both of their plates, shaking his head. "What did you do today?" he asked, looking over at her.

"I met Ginny at a café down the road. She wanted to tell me all about her new beau," she told him, an amused glow to her face.

"Oh yeah?" he replied, ladling just the right amount of sauce to her liking on her noodles and then doing the same to his own. He passed her the Parmesan cheese and then the pepper, remembering how she liked her spaghetti prepared a certain way. She took it all absently, not even looking at what was being passed to her, trusting his judgment.

"Mm hmm," she told him, nodding. "You'll never guess who it is."

"Potter," he offered, lifting a brow. "Again," he added.

She shook her head, a mischievous smirk tugging at her mouth. "Nope," she said with a cluck. Picking up his side bowl, she filled it with salad before shaking the bottle of creamy cucumber dressing and drizzling a small amount over the green vegetables, sprinkling a dash of pepper and placing it beside his plate again. "Want to guess again or can I just tell you?" she asked, looking excited.

He pondered it for a moment and then decided the young red head he had fondly come to know as Gin was too widespread in her interest in people for him to pick out who she could be dating now. In fact, she reminded him quite a bit of his best mate Blaise. They both had cheerful and comfortable attitudes, while being the needed amount of adventurous and exciting. They didn't waste time on relationships they knew wouldn't last and spent their times getting to know as many people as they could. Neither were what he would label as sexually boundless, but they had done their fair share of dating. "I give up, who?"

"Blaise," she told him, her voice raising with its ardor. "Yes, that's right, your Blaise!" She nodded for emphasis. "After they met back a few weeks ago, remember? Well, they bumped into each other at a Quidditch game recently and he asked her out. She thought he was completely handsome so she said yes. They've been seeing each other since and she thinks he could be 'lasting'," she told him, grinning.

"Lasting?" he asked, lifting a brow with his incredulity.

"Right," she said, nodding. "Someone worthy of more than just a fling or a short relationship. She said they get along famously and see each other almost every day. In fact, she says if it keeps up much longer, she might just have him move in." She shook her head, her expression one of bursting happiness. "She said she thinks about him the second she wakes up, and when she goes to bed she wishes he was beside her. He even makes dinner for her when she gets home from work. He's an Auror, you know, so his schedule is really quite hectic, but she says he always makes time for her."

"Blaise," he repeated, sounding beyond surprised. "My Blaise, as in Blaise Zabini? A bloke I happen to know as a notorious ladies man who has never been in a relationship longer than two weeks?" he said, his eyes wide with uncertainty. "The Blaise who lives to date thin, blonde women with less than two brain cells?" he asked, his eyes thinning. "You know, the name Blaise isn't very common, but perhaps there's another in London."

Sighing, she shook her head at him, pouring him a glass of red wine. "No, it's Blaise Zabini, your best friend. I'm telling you, they've both come to accept each other as more. Apparently, it's been four and a half weeks since they started dating and they haven't hit a problem since. She's even thinking of introducing him to her parents," she told him, nodding. "That's rare, Draco. Very, very rare. In fact, I only remember Ginny ever introducing Harry, which was pointless because really, he practically lived at The Burrow," she told him, shrugging. "In any case, Blaise is just as happy with the arrangement, as far as I know. He sent you post too, it's on your desk by your quills."

He nodded slowly, still not sure what to think or say. "And they're thinking of moving in together?" he asked, cocking his brow with question.

She nodded, sipping her wine and then stirring the sauce into her noodles. "Yep, she says they're the real deal and she's thinking of inviting him to move in. He'd still keep his place, but he'd have a lot of his stuff at her flat. He can't really give up his house, I mean it's Zabini Manor, it's been in his family for centuries. But, she thinks it would be more interesting if he were to move into a flat, rather than her move into a Manor," she told him, shrugging. "She wants us to meet them for lunch next Thursday. Blaise has a short mission somewhere in Wales, but he'll be back mid-Wednesday. You have that meeting with Jared Collit though, and Blaise will likely be tired. So I told her Thursday would be better."

"They've been together a month?" he asked, sticking his fork into his spaghetti and twirling it around before picking up the spoon she had left for him, knowing his likeness for having his spaghetti a certain way. "Don't you think they're moving a little quick?" he wondered, hesitantly.

"I don't know," she told him, shrugging. "I think each relationship is different. People move in at different times. It depends on the couple. I mean, they have to be ready to really share their space and understand their quirks and differences." She twisted her mouth to one side, looking up as she thought thoroughly about something. "Like, you know you how you always used to leave your towel on the floor and I would always bug you about it? Things like that would bother certain people to the point where it could put a strain on their relationship. They have to be willing to compromise about things before they can think of moving in together," she offered. "Which is why we put that basket in the bathroom for all your towels and such. Small, out of the way, and easy to remember."

"Or like when you used to alphabetize my books, even though I had been reading them at the time and liked to keep a few of them on my nightstand," he reminded, before filling his mouth with his fork full of twined spaghetti.

"Mmhmm, and then we came to a compromise with me leaving the books you leave on end tables alone, but those you aren't using I'm allowed to alphabetize, for organization reasons," she said, nodding.

"Mm, or when we agreed that the left side of each of our closets would be your side, that way we'd have something to wear to work or wherever no matter where we stayed that night. Because we kept finding ourselves wearing the day before's outfits," he added, nodding. "Or when we moved your favorite armchair over here because you like my lamp, it's better for reading beneath than the one in your apartment. And when we agreed that snogging was better on your couch than mine, it's bigger." He grinned for a moment, a list of things coming into his mind that they had compromised over the time of their relationship to better each other.

"Right," she agreed, spearing a chunk of salad and filling her mouth, a drop of dressing landing on her bottom lip before she licked it away. After swallowing, she said, "For all we know, Blaise and Ginny's relationship is in a fast forward mode. You know? They're up to our point, where they can compromise and come to an understanding on things like clothes and towels and," she chuckled, "the better snogging furniture."

Draco nodded absently, before leaning forward. "Right, so why aren't we living together?" he asked bluntly.

Hermione's eyes widened. "What? Why?"

He laughed, shaking his head. "Well, if they're at our point and they're thinking about moving in, why don't we? I mean, really, we practically live together already. When I wake up, you're the first thing I see. When I go to sleep, I'm holding you. Every night, one of us makes dinner for the other. We know each other inside out, which I think we actually just proved with dinner," he said, motioning to how they had put it together for each other. "Even when we have little rows we don't run away to our separate homes, but wait it out until we're ready to talk. We... We fit together. Might as well finish the process and actually live together," he told her, looking rather hopeful in his offer.

She stared at him a moment, before picking up a napkin and dabbing at her mouth, her eyes down as she stared at their meal and thought the proposal through. "It makes sense," she told him, nodding. "Logically."

"And physically," he added, nodding.

"There would be certain merits, true," she replied, a slow grin appearing. "But which apartment... and which furniture?" she wondered, shaking her head. "Neither apartment could hold all of it. Some will have to go into storage or be sold."

"I like my bed better," he said, shrugging.

Hermione snickered, rolling her eyes. "Just like you to think of the bed first," she bugged, smiling.

Draco smirked, ticking his head to one side agreeably. "If we stay here we can add your bookcases to the office and there should be enough room for your desk too, comfortably," he offered.

She nodded, leaning back and tapping her chin. "So... we'll move in together then," she said, looking happy by the decision.

"Yep," he responded, not feeling the least bit different by the decision. Perhaps it was because they already spent the majority of their days together.

He turned to her, watching as a smile covered her features and she began eating her dinner once more. She looked content, and he was happy in the knowledge that he had been part of the reason that she was feeling good about things. There was a warmth that spread through him then. If he had ever questioned just how sound their relationship was, that worry had completely evaporated. Besides, just like Clarence said, without a woman in his life, he was like a duck without a pond. And it was completely true. She was his stability and he couldn't imagine what it would be like without her. Didn't want to, really. Life was moving forward and he was decidedly happy with the fact that she would be a permanent fixture in his.

A/N Hope you enjoyed this. It'll be back to the regular flow of things next chapter! Please review, it's very appreciated.

Thank you for reading,
Much Love,
-Amanda